Marine ornamental aquaculture: Potential for livelihood and employment generation

Madhu, Rema and Madhu, K and George, Veena and Abhijith, V T and Aswin, S R and Bhaskaran, Binoy (2026) Marine ornamental aquaculture: Potential for livelihood and employment generation. In: Training Manual on Marine Fish Hatchery Management and Culture. CMFRI Training Manual Series No.72/2026 . ICAR- Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi, pp. 85-100.

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Abstract

Marine and freshwater aquarium keeping is amongst the most popular of hobbies with millions of enthusiasts worldwide. As a result the trade of marine ornamentals has been expanding in recent years and has grown into a multimillion dollar enterprise mainly due to the emergence of modern aquarium gadgets and technologies for setting and maintenance of miniature reef aquaria. Since the marine ornamental trade is operated throughout the tropics, the global marine ornamental trade is estimated at US$ 200-330 million. India is endowed with a vast resource potential of marine ornamentals distributed in the coral seas and rocky coasts with patchy coral formations. In the context of the expanding global scenario and the increasing demand in the domestic trade, it appears very much lucrative for India to venture into this industry. But it is a multi stakeholder industry ranging from specimen collectors, culturists, wholesalers, transhippers, retailers, hobbyists, researchers, government resource managers and conservators, and hence involves a series of issues to be addressed and policies to be formulated for developing and expanding a sustainable trade.

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