PRESENT STATUS OF BREEDING AND CULTURE OF CATFISHES IN SOUTH-ASIA

The commercially important fish which contribute substantially to the total inland fish production in South Asia are Aorichthys aor, A. seen ghala, Mystus cavasius, M. gulio, Rita rita, Wallago attu, Ompok bimac ulatus, Heteropneustes fossilis, Clarias batrachus, Silonia silondia a nd Pangasius pangasius. These are widely distributed in all the South Asian countries; Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar ex cept Bhutan and the Maldives. In comparison to carp culture, catfish c ulture has just begun in the region. Techniques of seed production hav e been standardized in C. batrachus, H. fossilis and W. attu which can be spawned even repeatedly at short intervals of 30-40 days, Such met hods are, however, in an experimental stage for other species. C. batr achus is the most popular and its traditional culture in rice fields i s well known, It is now being incorporated in carp ponds and semi-inte nsive and intensive monoculture systems have also been developed, The species fetches a very high price in India and Bangladesh and has a gr eat export potential. C. macrocephalus and C. gariepinus have been int roduced in Bangladesh with considerable success but their impact on th e indigenous species needs to be studied. A vast grow-out potential ex ists all over the region for small catfish in carp nurseries as a seco nd crop. Extensive culture of large catfish in derelict ponds could be an intermediate step in their improvement through control of all tras h fish. With increased seed availability, semi-intensive and intensive mono-culture systems, being tried experimentally, could be developed in the view of an industrial production of catfishes as new export ite ms from the region, if conditions for proper water quality management, aeration and partial replenishment, and availability of adequate pell eted feed could be met.