|
Sci Tech
Backyard eel culture: ideal for small farmers
By Our Agriculture Correspondent
An experimental eel culture tank in the Philippines. (Inset) Care should be taken not to injure the eels while harvesting.
BACKYARD EEL culture is a low-cost enterprise for small and marginal farmers. It is relatively easy and more profitable than several other small-scale fish-culture projects.
Eel culture does not require expansive water bodies and specific expensive formulated feed," says Dr. S.S. Tabrez Nasar, an aquaculture specialist, working as Programme Officer at the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) in Philippines.
Eels are long snake-like fish with a smooth, slimy scale-less skin. They are usually light chestnut brown in colour with numerous black spots.
There two predominant types of eels, classified based on their method of breathing.
They are the water-breathers (Anguilla) and the air-breathers (Monopterus). Though there are thousands of eels in the sea and in the freshwater, the two species, Anguilla (swamp eels) and Monopterus, (the rice field eel), which live in freshwater, are the most desirable ones for culturing in the backyards, according to Dr. Nasar.
The swamp and rice field eels are quite hardy and are resistant to pollutants to an extent. They can be profitably grown with aquatic crops and using locally available feed, including earthworms.
The eels can be raised outdoor in different types of tanks and dugout polythene-lined ponds of convenient size.
A stocking density of 0.5 to 1.0 kg of Anguilla young ones containing about 3000to 6000 elvers (baby eels) per cubic metre of water is considered ideal.
Adequate care should be taken to ensure good oxygen supply to the growing young eels. "It is always the best to start with pencil-size eels (12 to 15 cm long) caught from the wild. They will weigh about 10 gm each, and they will be ready for harvest in eight to nine months, when compared to the normal culture period of 12 to 18 months.
When properly fed, about 70 per cent of the eels will attain a weight of 250 g in 8-9 months," explains Dr. Nasar.
In the rice field eels, cannibalism is prevalent and it is important to maintain a good level of feed in the system all through the culture period, according to him. Feeding is very critical for the quick growth of the eels in the culture tanks.
At fingerling stage, they can be fed with a lot of aquatic insects, which are naturally found in stagnant water bodies.
Small earthworms produced by simple vermi-nursery can be used to feed the young eels. The adult eels feed voraciously on a variety of feed such as fish fingerlings, earthworms, snails, aquatic insects, silkworm pupae, slaughterhouse wastes and a host of other organic refuse.
"Raising the eels with locally available and natural feed is the most preferred as it is not only economical but also environment-friendly. For instance, feeding the golden snails to the eels will be a good and natural method of managing the pest as well.
Eels can feed on Tilapia and thus help in controlling their population. When live feed is given to the eels, the burden of cleaning the ponds can be dispensed with," says Dr. Nasar. The eels can be harvested when each one of them has grown to about 250 to 300 g in weight.
The harvest can be done partially or completely. The best time to catch the eels is while feeding, when a net can be kept under the feed.
Care should be taken not to injure the eels, as the injured eels will die and will fetch a poor price in the market. They should be stored in holding tanks, net cages or baskets for two days before transporting them live to the market, according to Dr. Nasar.
After each harvest, the tanks should be cleaned properly and sun-dried for a few days before taking up fresh eel culture again.
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Sci Tech
|
