🦐Pond-based Scampi (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) seed production at Sundarban

A nature-based approach for income generation of fisherwomen & men in Sundarban and also the conservation of estuarine ichthyofaunal resources through the diversification of aquaculture.

Pond-based mass-scale seed production of scampi has been standardized in the last 3 to 4 years in several coastal parts of West Bengal. To standardize it under the Sundarban micro-situation, one pilot scheme was implemented by Nature Environment and Wildlife Society (NEWS) with the support of WBADMI project of Govt. of West Bengal. This was carried out from April to September 2022 on Kumirmari island of the Gosaba block. 24 women participated in this pilot project, most of whom were earlier involved in wild shrimp post-larva (PL) collection. The pilot scheme resulted in some noteworthy success.

The breeding programme was conducted in a 0.13 hectares pond with the subsequent nursery rearing in a 0.26 hectares pond. 1,00,000 post larva of scampi and 76,000 juveniles were produced respectively, generating an income of four lakhs fifty thousand one hundred and five rupees during this period. The outcome of this pilot project exhibited that this nature-based model can be replicated involving the fisherwomen of Sundarban creating an alternative avenue for income generation as well as conserving the ichthyofaunal diversity of the Sundarban ecosystem as wild shrimp seed collection is reduced in this pilot project.