New era of fish farming

Back in March 2000, Israeli scientist Yoram Avnimelech published a journal, highlighting a new method of fish farming. Through a research Avnimelech found that fish farming was polluting the environment. The water and soil of the pond where, fish is farmed, are getting polluted year after year. He pointed out the way to get rid of this in his article titled, 'Active Suspension Ponds, a New Concept in Water Treatment.' That method has later gradually turned into biofloc technology (BFT). Fishery scientists from different countries are continuing their research to use this system through different methods. With the help of Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS), fish farms were also set up in a vast area in the deserts of California in the United States of America.

In 2019, I had the opportunity to visit the Ocean University in Qingdao in China to see some of their extensive research on the blue economy. Talking to the researchers there, I learned that their thoughts are on how to conquer the sea as a field of production. The issue is not limited to just thinking. They have taken fish production very seriously and their marine resources are functioning well. Two years back, I showed the viewers on TV, the massive fish factory, which was built by the E-Water Aquaculture Equipment Technology in Zhongshan, China. The world is constantly creating new technologies.

For almost three years now, the youth of our country have been trying to cultivate fish using BFT. Some are becoming successful, some are not. There should have been a study on why some are successful and some are failing, using BFT. If our researchers and experts in this field could give the young entrepreneurs a proper guideline, I believe we would see a new revolution in fish farming through BFT.  

Today, I would like to inform you about a young entrepreneur who has been studying biofloc technology online for the past three years, researching on his own. His name is Ashraful, a very enthusiastic young man from Mymensingh's Bhaluka upazila, who is quite famous for his fish farming. He first watched RAS technology on YouTube back in 2017 and became an entrepreneur in fish farming. But things didn't work well for him. However, failure couldn't stop Ashraful. In 2018, he tried to learn more about BFT. His effort continued for two years. Now he has become quite confident in properly using BFT. Ashraful has helped setting up an experimental demonstration farm at Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute.  

Ashraful has also built his own biofloc fish farm on seven decimals of the land. He is doing fish farming in nine fish tanks. Eight tanks have a capacity of 7,000 litresd each. The capacity of the other tank is 10,000 litres. Earlier, Ashraful cultivated shing, pabda and tilapia, but now he's doing two varieties of pangas. Large pangas fishes are cultivated in two tanks and the rest of the seven tanks are producing pangas fingerlings. There are a total of 52,000 fingerlings. As this year witnessed a prolonged flood, there will be a huge demand for fish fries (fingerlings). With that in mind, Ashraful has taken the initiative to cultivate pangas fingerlings. 'There are 1,100 fish in two fish tanks in which I am raising fish,' says Ashraful. When the fingerlings were released, 30 of them weighted 1 kg. I requested Ashraful to give me the results he's getting from one tank with regards to profit and loss. He said it would cost a total of Tk 25,000 (USD 295) for an aerator and an oxygen pump to prepare a tank in the biofloc system. And this tank will last for at least 10 years. 'How much it costs to cultivate pangas in four months?' I asked Ashraful. He said he released 550 pangas fingerlings in a tank at a rate of Tk 5 (USD 0.058) each; food cost in total is around Tk 12,000 (USD 141.59). In four months, total expenditure won't go beyond Tk 15,000 (USD 176.97). If he can sell his pangas at Tk 80 per kg, he will get Tk 45,000 (USD 530.93) from one tank. It means for 550kg of pangas from one tank, Ashraful gets around Tk 45,000. 'If a young man who is unemployed now can invest around Tk 1,00,000 (USD 1,179) on two decimals of land by setting up two fish tanks, he may earn a monthly profit of Tk 25,000 (USD 294.98) from two tanks, excluding all costs involved,' confidently adds Ashraful. He has also built a macha (platform) on the tanks, using nets, where he's cultivating seasonal vegetables. This is an extra income for him.

Ashraful said probiotic production is the main challenge for Biofloc. For this, he uses Jholagur (Molasses). Many people use Chitagur (Molasses). However, Ashraful says, he is getting good results by using Jholagur. Biofloc has spread across the country as through the contribution of mass and social media. If these new methods of fish farming are not well comprehended, there is a risk of failure. So all you fishers out there, need to know the technology well before taking the initiative in reality. In this case, government and development partners should come forward alongside the media. We must ensure a standard guideline for using biofloc technology, where I firmly believe there is a need for intensive research and experiment so that farmers can finally yield a great profit by producing healthy fish in huge quantity and utmost quality.