Characteristics of ornamental fish enterprise in Ratnagiri District in Maharashtra State, India

Abstract

The present study was carried out to document the characteristics and to analyse the present status of ornamental fish enterprise in the Ratnagiri District of Maharashtra State. A total of 71 ornamental fish enterprises were surveyed. Ornamental fish industry of Ratnagiri District was dominated by men and majority of them belong to one religion. The ornamental fish enterprises was found to be the primary source of livelihood for these people. Maximum units were established in less than 0.01 ha land. The retail shops were small with an area of 10-20 sq. m. The major items of non-recurring expenditure were tanks, water supply and electrical items, water treatment equipments, building for housing the tanks, water quality parameter analysis equipments, aerators, blowers and hosing for aquarium tanks. Major items of recurring expenditure were dry feed, electricity charges and communication charges. Goldfish and angelfish were the most preferred groups due to the demand in market. Monsoon crops were mostly taken by ornamental breeding and rearing units. Dry feed was commonly used by the enterprise for feeding and salt as chemical for treating fish while oxytetracycline was the common antibiotic used by ornamental fish entrepreneurs. The maximum breeding and rearing unit holders were those who got trained as beneficiaries of the Rainbow Revolution Scheme (RRS) of the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA).