Dr V P Saini
Prof. & Dean College of Fisheries, Kishanganj
• Fish transportation is a process by which fish is transported from one place to another place in scientific way.
• It play an important role in the distribution of quality fish seed among a country or even the world
• Fishes are transported mainly for three purposes:
For breeding
Stocking in nursery pond
For selling
Problems Faced During Transportation
• Dissolve oxygen level in transporting water reduces and Carbon dioxide level increases.
• Due to metabolic activity of fishes the concentration of ammonia, urea and uric acid etc increase in the water, hence fish gets stress.
• If transportation is done in high density it may lead to mortality of fish due to stress of oxygen.
• If transportation is done in improper vessels,
physical damage of fishes may occur.
TOLERANCE TO TRANSPORT
• A Famous saying in fish culture is,' Fish are not potatoes’.
They need tender care and love to remain strong and healthy.
• Tolerance of fish to transport depends on their ability to resists or adapt to stressful condition.
• Tolerance varies with species to species. Some species mainly species having air breathing organ are more tolerant to transport. E.g. Oreochromis spp. , Cyprinus carpio etc.
• Some medium tolerant species including,IMC, Bighead carp, Grass carp .
• Low tolerant species- Silver carp
Methods For Packing &
Transportation
There are two systems for packing of fish 1.
Open System
2. Close system
Several types of containers are used in the transport of fish seed. These are :
.
The containers are transported by bicycles,
carts, rickshaws, boats, Lorries, trains and
aeroplanes.
Used in Assam, West Bengal and Orissa
Mud pots of about 15 litres capacity
50,000 spawn
:
The tin is made up of galvanised iron sheet.
It is a round container having a diameter of 18" and height 8".
The lid has a number of small holes, which are useful to get oxygen.
This container has a capacity of 9
gallons of water, but is filled up only
with 8 gallons of water.
Double tin carriers are made up of galvanised iron
It has two parts - outer and inner tins. The outer tin is 13" x 13" x 8" and the inner one is slightly smaller than outer one The outer tin is open and with a handle. The inner tin is closed with a lid and entire tin has small openings.
The inner tin is filled with water after keeping it in the outer tin, then fish seed is introduced into it.
It holds about 6 gallons of water and is generally used for carrying a small number of fish seed by hand.
Tins of 18" x 28" size and big polythene bags of 15- 17'’ x26-30'’ size
This is the most common method of fish seed transportation and especially spawn
After checking the damage, about 1/3 of its capacity is filled with aerated pond water.
The fish seed, starved for one day and acclimatized
2,000 fry can withstand packing in one bag for a journey of 12 hours.
Similarly >200 fingerlings in one bag can withstand a journey of 12 hours.
Now a days card board containers are used in place of tin containers.
Tanks Fitted on Lorries:
For road transport lorries with one or two large
tanks of suitable dimensions fitted at the rear
can be advantageously used. This will
facilitate seed transport problem to a large
extent.
•Necessity of transporting adult fish and breeders has been greatly increased with the advantage of
induced breeding.
•Breeders have to be transported without shock and injury.
•Metal containers, 200 litre vessels, plastic pools, open canvas carriers (1x1 x 1.25 m)
•Splashless, closed and foam-lined containers are used for transportation of breeders and adult fish with compressed air.
•The wrapping of breeders carefully with a cloth allowing free opening of gills
The number of fish seed to be transported in closed and oxygen packed containers may vary according to the type and size of the fish seed, mode of transport, duration of transport and the environmental temperature, etc. The number of fish seed for transportation in containers can be calculated using
the following formula
N =
Where :
D is dissolved oxygen in ambient water in ppm.
V is volume of water in litres.
R is the rate of oxygen consumption by individual fish seed in mg/kg/hr.
H is period of transportation in hours.
N is number of seed to be introduced.
Size of fry or
fingerling Milk can type (metal) 40 – 50 litres Plastic bags 16 – 18 litre capacity 1 cm 500 – 25,000 (Range)
(15,000) (Average)
1000 – 10,000 (5,500)
2 cm 500– 20,000
(3000)
500 – 5,000 (2,200)
3 cm 200 – 10,000
(3000)
200 – 1,000 (600)
4 cm 100 – 700
(400)
100 – 500 (330)
5 cm 50 – 500
(250)
75 – 300 (225)
6 cm 50 – 400
(200)
50 – 200 (80)
7 cm 50 – 300
(100)
25 – 100 (70)
8 cm 50 – 200
(90)
25 – 50 (40)
Packing density of fish seed under for 12 hour journey
Seed/Fish Mortality Effect of CO2
Effect of Ammonia
Effect of temperature
Effect
Dissolved Oxygen
The purpose of this is to ensure that the fish seed survives for a longer period of time, and also to minimise the concentration of toxic gases like ammonia and carbon dioxide in the medium by lowering the metabolic rate of the fish seed.
Anesthetised fish seed have been found to survive for double the time
Carbonic acid has been found to be the best anesthetic compared to others such as :
Quinaldine
sodium amytal
TMS-222 (Tricaine Methan Sulphonate).
Carbonic acid is not only cheap but also safe and easy to use.
To about 8 litres of water in bag containing fry, 8 ml of 7%, sodium bicarbonate solution and 8 ml of 4% sulphuric acid are added so as to produce 500 ppm concentration of carbonic acid.
This anesthetised bag should be
immediately filled with oxygen.
Addition of sodium phosphate, which acts as a buffer, at a rate of 2 gm/lit.
of the medium may bring about a favourable pH of the medium for fish seed during transit.
Due to the non-availability of some
anesthetics and the risk involved in
the improper use by laymen, the
method has remained at the level of a
scientist only.
GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR FISH SEED TRANSPORTATION
• Transportation early in the morning is better (Cool Hour).
• The water used in transportation should be cool and clean
• Number of fish seeds per transportation unit should be maintained, over number may lead to death of fish
• Oxygen packing is the best method of transportation
• Anesthetics can be used while transportation to
minimize the metabolic activities of fish
• Care should be taken so that no direct sun light falls in the packing bags during transportation
• The seed packing bags should be covered with the wet gunny bags.so that temperature of the seed packing bags will be maintained low.
• If the transportation distance is long, glucose powder can be added to the seed packing bags
• Use of common salt @ 5-8 ppt in
transportation bags/hapa reduce the mortality
rate .
