Sea Bass Hatchery Startup to be India’s First

During their internship, three students from Mangalore Fisheries College saw many shrimp farmers in Andhra Pradesh owning luxury cars such as BMWs and Audis. It made A Kaushik, V Karthik, and S Sachin, students of BFSc (Bachelors of Fisheries Science), to become entrepreneurs.

After passing out in 2019, the 23-year-old trios decided to unravel into largely uncharted water. The fisheries graduates decided on the seed production for Asian sea bass hatchery.

A Kaushik, Managing Partner of Canares Aquaculture LLP, in a statement, told that farming of shrimps is now a mature industry in the country. They decided to start the sea bass farming when it is at a nascent stage in the country. 

On Sunday, the ICAR-CIBA (Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture) (1) announced that it had signed an MoU with the startup. It is made with Kumta of Karnataka regarding the product technology of sea bass seed transfer. 

It is Challenging to Produce Sea Bass Hatchery

Dr. K Vijayan, Director of ICAR-CIBA, stated that it is the first attempt in India to set up sea bass hatchery as a private-sector startup.

He added that it also assumes the importance of the PMMSY (Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojna). Notably, our honorable Prime Minister launched the scheme last Thursday. The move is made to boost the production of fish, sustainable growth of the sector, and increase farmers’ income.

As per K Vijayan, even though sea bass is among the most popular fishes, producing young is challenging. Notably, the trio of sea bass hatchery startup did not wait for any government subsidy like many others. They decided to jump at the opportunity as soon as possible.

The aquaculture institute ICAR-CIBA gave them 45-day old larvae of sea bass. They grew it for some days before selling it on good profit. Notably, the institute charged them 5 lakh INR for the technology transfer and 10% royalty on its net profit, said Vijayan.

The Sea Bass Hatchery Startup currently has over 80 tanks. They can produce three million fries and two million fingerlings yearly. Canares Aquaculture, Sea Bass Hatchery will procure the eggs, brooder, or fries from ICAR-CIBA. They will rear it in the tank for approximately 2 to 2.5 months before selling it to the farmers, stated Kaushik. 

Vijayan stated that there is a strong need to emphasize the production of Asian sea bass quality seeds. He added that it is equally essential to use inherent technologies for reared sources and formulated seeds hatchery. It is necessary for the scientific sea bass farming development in India.