Marine ornamental fish production for economic empowerment

Anikuttan, K K and Tamilmani, G and Madhu, K and Ramesh Kumar, P and Sakthivel, M and Johnson, B and Bavithra, R (2023) Marine ornamental fish production for economic empowerment. In: Winter School on Mariculture Technologies for Income Multiplication, Employment, Livelihood and Empowerment. ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi, pp. 204-211.

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Abstract

Keeping an aquarium at home and watching the nature’s beauty in the comforts of our living room can help to improve mental well-being and overall health of an individual. The history of fish keeping as a hobby can be traced back to ancient civilizations such as Sumerians, Ancient Egyptians, Assyrians and also in ancient China and Rome. The earliest reports of keeping fish in glass containers dates back to mid 1700s in England where gold fish was kept in glass containers. Presently aquarium keeping is a favourite pastime hobby which is the second most popular hobby after photography. A report by American Pet Products Association showed that in 2019/2020, fish occupied third position after dogs and cats in the number of households keeping pets. The global ornamental fish trade is a multibillion dollar industry worth around $ 15-30 billion which covers retail sales, accessories, wages and non-exported products (INFOFISH, 2021). The ornamental fish trade is supported by supply from developing countries in the tropical and subtropical regions where it offers avenues for employment and livelihood opportunities for rural population. The major source countries of ornamental fish in the global trade are from South East Asia (Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong andIndonesia) followed by China, Amazon region, and regions of the African Great Lakes.The countries in SE Asia have developed large scale commercial breeding units and farms of ornamental fish wherein more than 95% of freshwater ornamental fish traded are produced in captivity. After the Second World War the trade showed a significant increase, perhaps due to the introduction of civil aviation (Tissera, 2010; Monticini, 2010).

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