The ICAR–Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA) conducted an one day awareness-cum-training camp on the “Hatchery seed production of Asian seabass, Lates calcarifer” for the scheduled caste beneficiaries from three coastal villages such as Kovalam, Pattipulam, and Kottaikadu on 20.03.2026 under the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Govt. of India funded project on “Entrepreneurship and cluster farming model to empower coastal scheduled caste communities and increase productivity of value-chain of high value fish Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer)”. Eighty participants attended the training programme. ICAR-CIBA has been taking the initiatives to popularise seabass seed production technology among the farming communities. The demand for seed is in the increasing trend year after year as the fish is highly suitable for farming in ponds, cages and RAS in varying salinity regimes.
While inaugurating the training, Dr. Kuldeep K. Lal, Director, ICAR-CIBA, emphasized that the institute has developed a complete technology package for seabass nursery farming using small net cages, along with key inputs such as seed, feed, and training, enabling its easy adoption by coastal communities. He also highlighted that CIBA has been demonstrating this technology across coastal states with the active participation of Scheduled Caste families. On the occasion, the Director handed over a sum of Rs. 3.11 Lakhs, representing revenue earned by beneficiary groups through seabass nursery rearing and distributed certificates to the farmers.
During the technical session, scientists from ICAR-CIBA explained seabass nursery rearing technology in detail and provided first-hand exposure of nursery rearing at its Muttukadu Experimental Station (MES). Dr. M. Kailasam, Principal Investigator of the project, coordinated the programme along with his scientific team.
