ornamental fishes

World trade of ornamental fishes has reached more than one billion dollars and is growing rapidly at around 10% per year. India currently exports only around Rs. 30 million (US$650,000 million) of ornamental fish. However, the northeast of India has many species of fish that have great potential in the ornamental trade and many of which are attractive to foreign markets. There is great potential to expand the local
industry. In Assam there are several native species suitable for the ornamental fish
trade. These include Botia dario, Channa stewartii, Channa barca, Gagata cenia, Hara hara, Garra species, Mystus sp. Somileptes gongata, Nemacheilus botia, Macrognathus aculeatus, Mastacembelus pancalus, Rasbora species, Danio species and many others. In Assam there is no organized trade at present. Only a very few people are supplying these fishes to the exporters in places such as Kolkata and Chennai. Since, they are not directly involved in exporting they are always deprived of the actual price prevailing in the global market. Those who are supplying ornamental fishes endemic to this region normally collect the fish from the wild through their contact fishermen. Therefore, there is always an uncertainty in the availability of a particular species of ornamental fish. A preliminary survey on the export of ornamental fish reveals that about 20 different varieties of ornamental fish of this region are exported annually. Considering their potential, a few fish species have been recently shortlisted for research on captive breeding under a National Agriculture Technology project in the Assam Agricultural University at College of Fisheries, Raha. The project has so far been successful in captive breeding of 5-6 local species of ornamental fishes of Assam. However, more research activities are required in this direction to conserve our natural resources and fish bio-diversity. It is expected that in near future, the dependency on nature for ornamental fish collection will decline.

Captive Breeding of Peacock Eel,
Macrognathus aculeatus
S.K.Das and N. Kalita
Assam Agricultural University, College of Fisheries, Raha, Nagaon,Assam,India 782 103