Tenualosa ilisha, commonly known as hilsa shad, is the most important edible fish rich in ω3 and ω6 fatty acids, and consumed by more than 250 million people across the globe. In India, people from the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin, particularly in the states of West Bengal, Assam, Odisha, have a very strong cultural affinity for the consumption of hilsa. Among the Indian states, West Bengal consumes most of the hilsa that are caught in India and imported from Bangladesh. As a result of high price and low availability, the volume of consumption has reduced drastically over time. However, demand for hilsa has not fallen and most consumers can now rarely access the fish due to its exorbitant price. Our study indicated that consumption of the fish was almost 100 t per day in West Bengal alone, with 70% of the requirement fulfilled by imports from Bangladesh. While, the rest as catch from different landing centers viz. Digha and Diamond harbor in West Bengal, Chilka and Paradip in Odisha, and Ukai in Gujarat. Further the study indicated that in West Bengal (Kolkata), the price of hilsa stood at US $ 20-30 per kg, while in Odisha (Chilka) the price was US$ 15-20 for fish in the size range of 800 to 1000 g. This underlines a great demand with limited supply, which is mostly dependent upon the capture based wild resources viz. rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Therefore the need of the hour is to develop a commercial and viable aquaculture practices for the species.
Developing a new aquaculture species is always challenging and is a multi-faceted process. It involves developing new technologies for broodstock management, hatchery management, live food production, larval rearing, and on-growing techniques. We have identified critical areas, where the focus is needed (a) although the breeding of hilsa has been successfully carried out, it is solely dependent dry/wet stripping of wild collected broodstock. So far domesticated broodstock of hilsa has not been developed, which is a prerequisite for commercial seed production of hilsa (b) optimization of water quality requirements for broodstock and larval/grow-out development of hilsa in freshwater and brackish water ponds is needed for increasing growth performance (c) nutrient requirement and feed development for the broodstock and larval and grow-out hilsa is paramount. With several disciplines involved, a systematic and collaborative approach is needed for better use of resources and to become successful. Streamlining of all these processes will enable development of a successful aquaculture venture for subsistence and commercial growers.