Ornamental fish farming is an activity, which not only provide aesthetic pleasure to the fish keeper, but also give easy way to financial gains. Culturing and keeping ornamental fishes started as easy and stress relieving hobby, but now it is coming out as a commercial venture. The information was revealed by Dr. Asha Dhawan, Dean College of Fisheries. She said that the growing popularity in aquarium fishes has resulted in steady increase in global trade. The trade with a turnover of US$ 5 billion and an annual growth rate of 8 percent offers a lot of scope for development. To cater the demand of the State, Department of Aquaculture, College of Fisheries, GADVASU conducted one day training programme on culture and breeding of ornamental fishes and fabrication of aquarium . About 30 farmers from different villages of District Bathinda under ATMA activities attended the training. Dr. Asha Dhawan briefed that In India, the domestic ornamental fish market is worth Rs.500 million and the demand is increasing @ 20 % annually. India contributes about 0.008% to the global trade which is mainly based on the wild collection. Sustainable growth of this sector needs shift of focus from capture to culture system in which indigenous ornamental fish species can be mass bred and cultivated. The activity has potential to create substantial job opportunities and the rural women and housewives can be trained to uptake this as an enterprise. about the development of this sector in Punjab. She told that in Punjab, wide range of ornamental fishes is available, but most of these are being supplied from other parts of the country viz. Kolkata, Chennai etc. As the environmental conditions in the state are quite conducive for culture and breeding of ornamental fishes, so, there is immense scope to develop ornamental fish culture as a lucrative enterprise in the State. She added that in view of the present scenario of this enterprise, College of Fisheries, GADVASU is intensively involved in conducting research on culture as well as breeding of ornamental fishes and the technology generated at GADVASU is disseminated to the people through specialized trainings in culture as well as breeding of different species for the benefit of the rural people, farmers, women and entrepreneurs. Dr. Vaneet Inder Kaur, Assistant Scientist (Fisheries) demonstrated the technical knowledge regarding the various culture and management practices such as rearing, feed management, water quality management, health management etc. as well as breeding aspects of various fish species. Aquarium fabrication technique was also demonstrated practically. Trainees were given hands on training on breeding practices and aquarium fabrication and decoration. Mr. V. K. Dogra, Assistant Director Fisheries (ATMA), Bathinda and the farmers showed their enthusiasm to adopt ornamental fish culture and breeding as an enterprise.
