Experimental culture of chanos in fish pens in a coastal lagoon at Mandapam

Abstract

Chanos was experimentally cultured in three fish pens, fabricated with palmyra poles and enclosed with 20-mm-mesh nylon webbing, of area 2500 m each. The methods of construction of the pens,, the hydrological conditions and general topography of the lagoon are described. Chanos fingerlings of length 80-146 mm were stocked in the pens, respectively at a rate of 4000, 6000 and 8000 per ha, and their rate of growth was observed. The chanos fiingerlings belonging to the secondary spawning, during October-November, were also stocked in a pen at a rate of 3460|ha. The stock attained a length of 260 mm, weighing 137 g, during 132 days. Constraints met with the pen culture are also discussed briefly.