Successful Open Sea Cage culture demonstration at Balasore, Orissa: A New Horizon in Mariculture

Orissa State has a coastline of 480 km (8% of the total coastline of India) spread over the districts of Balasore, Cuttack, Puri and Ganjam. Balasore is characterised by an extended continental shelf, tidal areas and extensive river deltas. The mangrove biodiversity in Balasore and Cuttack with about 60 varieties of mangroves constitutes most significantly the second largest mangrove formation in India. The district houses the maximum number of fisherfolk families (55%). The fishermen in this area arevery poor and need proper technological upliftment in gaining better opportunities in the society to improve their standard of living. Besides, the district has very poor communication and infrastructure facilities. Thus, with the funding from National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Hyderabad, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has selected Balasore as one of the locations for demonstration of open sea cage culture. The site selected was at Chaumukh, around 70 km from Balasore town. The cage site was well protected from direct wave action and to be on the safer side, mooring was done at two sites, one in the open sea and another in the nearby lagoon. During rough weather, cage was de-linked from the mooring system and relocated at the protected lagoon. This has helped in saving the cage structure as well as the stock during the devastating cyclone “Ayila” which hit Orissa coast during May 2009