Brackishwater Aquaculture Health Management with Special Referencve to Shrimp Farming in India: Status and the Way Forward

Abstract

The brackishwater aquaculture in India has evolved significantly during the past four decades and has been dominated by shrimp farming. The native shrimp species have been replaced by the Pacific white shrimp. Since its introduction there has been tremendous growth in aquaculture production, contributing significantly to the economy. With the intensification and expansion of aquaculture, challenges due to disease and crop failures have become the most important concerns. The white spot disease (WSD) and Hepatopancreatic microsporidiosis or Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) are the most important diseases causing significant economic loss to the Indian shrimp farming. Aquatic animal health management (AAHM) constitutes management practices primarily designed to prevent diseases. The AAHM at the Government level includes, import risk analysis (IRA), aquatic quarantine, disease surveillance and reporting, zoning, and contingency planning. Options at the field level on disease control and prevention are limited since these are still under research and development. The Indian brackishwater aquaculture sector has major Acts and other legal instruments in place for Coastal Aquaculture. The Indian brackishwater aquaculture has tremendous scope to increase aquatic productivity applying the principles of better management practices (BMPs) on environmental sustainability principles and make the sector economically efficient and a socially equitable enterprise, and have been adequately addressed in the recently launched Pradhan Mantri Mathsy Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).