50 JUNE 2016 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG cage culture according to the need of the local environment. The farmers soon realized that the circular cages developed by CMFRI were not suitable for estuaries and that the construction cost of the circular cage was much greater than the rectangular cage. Cage culture provided fishers with alternate and additional employment. Culture practices are sustainable and fishers are also able to use juveniles caught with nets as fish feed. Cage culture farmers formed an association to address common problems such as research on diseases, procurement of feeds and wild collection of fish feeds. Farmers sought subsidies and credit from the state to support smallscale cage culture as a viable group activity. Family-based Farming Cage culture activities in Uppunda involve mainly family labor and activities that added to routine household chores. Everyone in the family has specific roles, including cage construction, procurement of feed, feeding and maintaining the cage. The absence of one family member could be compensated by another. Many fishers practicing cage culture formed small groups to procure fingerlings and fetch fish wastes from the market. Because the market value for seabass is high, cage culture resulted in a good income. Cage farmers market during the lean season of marine fishing, when there was high demand for fresh fish, helping them earn more value for the fish. Cages also act as fish aggregating device and fishers were able to harvest a larger quantity of fish beneath cages. Enterprise Budget of Cage Culture Costs and returns were assessed on actual investment and returns from small-scale cage culture in the Kundapura area of Uppunda to understand the changing profitability of cage culture. Capital costs, variable (operating) costs and gross and net profits earned were estimated during 2009 and 2015 (Table 3). Data for the estimation was obtained from three cage culture farmer groups that operated cages during the previous six years. Although the total cost doubled over the five years, gross and net profit also increased substantially. The gross profit after accounting for family labor and costs of other materials increased from US$ 267 to 2,540 between 2009 and 2015. Promotion Schemes for Cage Culture There are many schemes to assist finfish culture. The NFDB allocated US$ 7.5 million for implementation of the Blue Revolution in inland fisheries. An integrated system of cage construction, culture, seed and feed production, was planned for around 300 cages with a target of 1,500 t of fish annually. Such schemes were suitable for large reservoirs and water bodies but were not suitable for extensive small-scale cage culture in estuaries. Public-Private Partnership in Mariculture Large-scale investments for cage culture in public-private partnerships are made across India. A pilot project was initiated at Karwar region in 2014 to promote open-sea cage culture by promoting self-help groups. US$ 120,000 was authorized for the installation of 16 cages under the Rhastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana scheme. Several self-help groups filed applications under this scheme to take up open-sea cage culture and were trained by CMFRI, Research Centre, Karwar. Five self-help groups withdrew their applications, lacking interest in culture. Eight cages were installed in Karwar and Kumta. Seabass and cobia seed from RGCA and CMFRI were stocked. The project was not successful because of a lack of interest in maintaining cages by the self-help groups. In addition, rough monsoon winds caused two cages to wash away during 2014. Bringing the public-private partnership model to develop mariculture needs a strong policy framework that can regulate illegal culture. Interests of traditional fishers had to be taken into consideration, with due emphasis on artisanal fishing. Radhakrishnan and Dineshbabu (2012) suggested the introduction of mariculture parks so that management and leasing of public water bodies for culture would be easier. A policy aimed at full-fledged mariculture development, meeting the nutrition requirement of the nation, had to be developed. Potential for Cage Aquaculture in Marine Parks The policies for the promotion of large capital-intensive opensea cage culture and formation of private marine parks were judged to be against the interest of small-scale artisanal fishers and against TABLE 3. Cost and return structure for small scale-cage culture in Uppunda (in US$). Economics 2009 2015 Capital cost (Cost for cage construction) 598.50 825.40 Working capital (Seed, Feed and labor) 2344.50 5221.00 Total Cost including maintenance cost and insurance risk 3665.00 7499.00 Number of fishes harvested 450 800 Total weight of fishes harvested 500 kg 1300 kg Price per kg 5.22 5.96 Revenue 2612.00 7762.00 Gross profit 267.50 2540.00 Net profit/ loss -1053.00 262.38 Return on investment -175% 31.79%
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