How to start a small fish farming in India (West Bengal) with minimum investment || Fish farming tutorial

Fish farming is a popular low investment business which requires low maintenance cost and huge profit. Fish has lots of demand throughout the world. More than 60% of the protein source comes from fish. There are two types of sources of fish (1) from fresh water [Ponds, river] (2) Sea. Sea is the biggest source of fishes in every country but this source is gradually decreasing. As a result of that fish farming is needed. Now a day fish farming able to fulfill more than 50% of the fish demand in the market.

Fish farming business potential

As the population growth steadily increasing so as the demand of fish is rapidly increasing. More than 70% of the world’s populations rely on fish for protein source. Considering this huge demand, fish farming has lots of potential. India has a large fish market and it exports fishes throughout the world. Indian fishes like Catla, Rihu, Hilsa, Pabda and cat fishes have lots of demand in western countries.  

As we are discussing only on fish farming so this topic will cover pond based fish farming such as  colour fish farming and carp fish farming. Prawn can also be included in fish farming. If you have a fish farm then you can sell fish to your local market or export to large market outside of your local area.

Selecting the type of fish farm

There are basically two type of fish farming one is spawning for baby fish production and other one is producing big carp from baby fish. Most of the people prefer the second option as it gives more profit.

Base on the profit there are three types of fish farming

• Extensive fish farming: in this type of fish farming all you need is a pond and fish. No special care is needed for your fish. Fish is cultivated in a small scale and little investment is needed.
• Semi-intensive fish farming: in this type you need a medium size pond. Some care is needed for your fish. Fish is produced in medium scale and some investment is really needed.
• Intensive fish farming: This is the actual fish farming. Most professional fish farmers apply this type of farming. You need a large pond (Eg- 1 hector) for this. You need to invest labor, money and special care for fish is needed in this type of fish farming.

Preparing pond for fish farming

A good pond is very necessary for fish farming. A clean pond with fresh oxygenated water is used for best fish farming.

A sample pond blue print is shown in above image. The depth of the pond should be maximum 2 meters. Depth of the pond is very important in mixed fish culture as different fish stays at different depth of water. When you start your fish farming you need to clean your pond properly as you want to remove other fishes which will eat your baby carp fish.  To do so first you need to use Mohua oil cake then after 15 days use lime water (alkaline solution) to reduce the acidity in water. After 10 days check the pH level of the water. For sweet water fish culture your pond water pH level must be between 7 to 8. When you have optimum level pH level in water, you can put baby carp fish in your pond.

Selecting the proper fish breed

 Fish breed selection should be done based on the following features.

1. Market demand
2. Growth rates of fish
3. Low cost to culture
4. less prone to diseases

As you are farming fish in pond so carp is the best choice for fish breed. They have high growth rate and high market value. Some fish carps that can be cultivated in pond are given below.

Fish breed	Scientific name	Natural food
Carp	Cyprinus carpio	Small plants, zooplanktons
Catla	Catla catla	Pond bottom, dead plants
Rohu	Labeo rohita	Dead plant material
Calbosu	Labeo calbasu	Dead plant material
Mrigal	Cirhinna mrigala	Detritus pond bottom
Grass carp	Ctenopheringedon idella	Water plants
Silver carp	Hypopthalmicthis molitrix	Phytoplankton

Maintaining your fish farm

When you have baby carp fish in your pond then next part you have to do is to maintaining your fish farm. To maintain your fish farm properly you have to follow some instruction and these are listed below

• Check pH level of the pond water every month
• Always maintain water level in your pond. In summer water level in your pond drops quickly. So you have to arrange external water source during these days.
• Often check for fish diseases. If you find any fish disease then take precaution.
• Make your fish farm in locality. This will reduce fish theft. Try to use “periphyton technique” (put some bamboo brunches on pond, this will restrict fish thief to catch fish)
• If you find unhealthy fish in your pond then there may be food scarce. Give your fish some supplementary food. Some supplementary foods like broken rice, bread crumbs and mustard seed cakes are very good for fish.

Fish diseases and prevention

Health fishes are very important for fish farm but sometimes you may face some problems with fish diseases. Fish diseases mainly occur due to poor water quality in pond. Non fresh water and low pH level can bring disease in fish. Low oxygen in water is another important reason of fish disease and this may lead to fish death in pond. Some fish diseases like dropsy, fin rotten and fish bladder problems are well seen. Use proper medication to remove this disease.