Rameswaram: As part of the ongoing efforts to replenish the fish stock in the Palk Straits and Gulf of Mannar areas of the Bay of Bengal for the benefit of local fishermen, as many as 11 lakh shrimp hatches were released into the sea, official sources said on Friday.
This is the third phase of the exercise which the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) at Mandapam has been undertaking through the year. The target of releasing shrimp eggs into the sea for species replication of this small edible fish has been set higher at 30 lakh this year, against last year's 15 lakh.
Led by the Ramanathapuram district collector, Mr. Veeraraghava Rao, a team from CMFRI including its principal scientist-in-charge Dr R Jayakumar, scientists Shankar, Johnson, and CMFRI members including Muralidharan and few local fishermen went in a country-made craft and released the shrimp hatches in the sea off Thangachimadam near here, known as 'Villoondi Theertham' sea.
The prawn and shrimp hatches are nurtured by the CMFRI at is sophisticated lab in Mandapam for a period of 45 days before they are released into the sea in phases, sources said. Already this year close to 20 lakh shrimp hatches had been released into the sea in the Gulf of Mannar area in Bay of Bengal.
The fish seedlings are expected to grow by the time fishermen of Rameswaram begin their next fishing season following the 60-day fishing ban along the East coast observed every year, added sources.
