Background:
Golden mahseer has been a pride and glory of Himalayan sub-continent generating livelihood through ecotourism and aquaculture. Due to various anthropogenic and species-specific inherent reasons, it has become endangered and listed in IUCN red book. Hence, its conservation and rehabilitation has become a grave concern for the scientists/researchers, environmentalists and policy makers. Stock enhancement/ranching of fingerlings produced using captive brooders is one of the best sustainable conservation strategies. However, golden mahseer fails to mature in captive conditions due to its reproductive dysfunctions. To address this issue on priority basis, the research has been carried out to achieve captive maturity and breeding to ensure sustainable seed supply. :
Technology Details:
To address the issue of captive maturation, investigation was firstly aimed to explore reproductive dysfunction and the possibilities of inducing maturity of golden mahseer in captivity through photo-thermal manipulations coupled with breeding ground/substratum as well as intervention through customized broodstock diet in a compact tank environment of pre-defined dimensions. This led to achieve captive maturity. Subsequently, sex segregation of golden mahseer after co-rearing of the brooders has led to stripping of substantial number of eggs multiple times and eventually the methodology of faster and efficient hatching and nursery rearing have been standardized. Finally, the problem identified has been solved through this technology. The success achieved in different steps of the project has been translated to develop brood bank and an efficient, cost effective and viable technology for mass scale seed production of golden mahseer for conservation and rehabilitation.