Development of Sea Cage Farming in India: ICAR-CMFRI Research Initiative Towards Mariculture Sustainability

Megarajan, Sekhar and Ranjan, Ritesh and Xavier, Biji and Kizhakudan, Joe K and Loka, Jayasree and Baitha, Raju and Suresh, R D (2026) Development of Sea Cage Farming in India: ICAR-CMFRI Research Initiative Towards Mariculture Sustainability. ICAR- Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute.

Text CMFRI Pamphlet Series No. 50_2026_Sekar Megarajan.pdf Download (4MB)

Abstract

Globally, the cage aquaculture sector has grown very rapidly during the past few decades and presently undergoing rapid changes in response to pressures from globalization and growing demand for aquatic products in both developing and developed countries. Sea cage farming is an important aquaculture technology that enables fish production in coastal and offshore waters using floating cages. It addresses several challenges faced by traditional inland and coastal aquaculture systems. Understanding the importance, sea cage farming research in India began as a research and demonstration project in 2005, spearheaded by the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI). Initial open sea cage farming project was initiated for four locations (Diu, Ratnagiri, Mandapam and Visakhapatnam) and was funded by Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India to the ICAR- Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI). The first successful open-sea cage culture in 2007 was from Visakhapatnam, wherein seabass was successfully harvested from HDPE cages of 15 m diameter. The successful deployment of the first open-sea fish cage in the Bay of Bengal off the Visakhapatnam coast marked a significant milestone in Indian mariculture. The development of this technology has been a progressive journey, with continuous refinements to adapt cage systems to India’s diverse and often challenging coastal environments.

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