Hatchery seed production and cage farming of Tiger grouper Epinephelus fuscoguttatus (Forsskal 1775) in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

1678-1685Grouper fishes have been considered as commercially important candidate species for aquaculture. Among them, the Tiger grouper (Epinepheleus fuscoguttatus) is one of the most relished finfish that demands an excellent price in the fish markets of Southeast Asia. Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture (RGCA), has launched a project on breeding, seed production and grow out farming of grouper at Andaman & Nicobar Islands (ANI). The project developed technology for breeding and grow-out farming of Tiger grouper, which is widely distributed in Andamans and also form a candidate species for captive breeding and sea cage culture. Its wild catches are extremely limited and insufficient to meet the huge market demands. Hence, development of a standard technology for the seed production of Tiger grouper is an imperative to boost the country’s export revenue. The paper presented here, is one such initiative by RGCA on seed production and cage culture of E. fuscoguttatus