Aquaculture ‘entrepreneurs’ lured by YouTube videos increasingly end up in trouble
Thrissur, Kerala: Buoyed by the promises of high profits, several young entrepreneurs in Kerala invested in biofloc fish farming. However, their dreams were crushed once they realised they were misled by YouTube videos, which guaranteed high profits.Biofloc technology is a scientific solution for high-density fish farming in artificial water bodies by utilising the benefits of microbes. This system, in which fish wastage are converted into useful nutrients, helps fish grow with the support of a consortium of good bacteria, diatoms and microlage (floc) in zero water exchange method. To start biofloc farming, one does not require natural water resources such as ponds or creeks or rivers as in the case of traditional fish farming.However, hundreds of youngsters and entrepreneurs who jumped into the field inspired by videos doing rounds on social media have incurred massive losses. Even as scores of people who started biofloc fish farming end up in trouble, aquaculture entrepreneurs lured by the claims of certain vloggers are still engaged in the trade, especially in Kerala. The COVID-19 pandemic has become instrumental in fast-spreading the wrong practice of this technology. Further, as these budding entrepreneurs are hesitant to disclose their failure, the reality of the sector still remains unknown to all except those involved in this business.Binish Kumar, a resident of Olavanna from Kozhikode district, stated that about 600 fish were killed in just two months since he started farming. He had started his venture in October 2019 with two four-metre-diameter tanks and had stocked 6,000 seeds.“If I could earn the money as was projected by social media vloggers, my life would have been settled and stable by now. But I am still trying hard to at least manage to recover from the loss,” he stated.Dr.KK Vijayan, Director of ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA), told 101Reporters that even a narrow deviation from the scientific principles in biofloc fish farming can harm the entire venture. He added that one cannot expect a massive profit, as portrayed by the videos on social media, by doing biofloc fish farming on a small scale. Biofloc Tank in operation at CIBA: Credits: K V A KhadarICAR-CIBA has started webinars and other digital workshops to create public awareness on adopting this technology in a scientific manner, he mentioned. Normal 0 false false false EN-US HI /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:Mangal; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:HI;} We advise people not to fall prey to snarls of social media and to be rather cautious while adopting this technology, he added.Misled and deceivedAfter ending nearly a decade-long construction business in Qatar, Jesso CT, 35, returned to his hometown Chalakkudy in Kerala’s Thrissur district in March 2019. He came across videos of biofloc fish farming and attracted by the high profits, he invested in it.He bought two three-metre-diameter tanks, 6,000 seeds of tilapia fish, feed and arranged other ancillary facilities required for the venture. He required around Rs 1.5 lakh for the initial capital for the facility. Meanwhile, Jesso had watched more than 10 videos and joined a few WhatsApp groups to learn the methods of biofloc fish farming before he started his venture in August 2019. After a few months into the farming, he started to realise that his farm was not going to achieve the targeted growth as projected in the video.“Most of these videos are so tempting and alluring that one can’t stop themselves from stepping into it. Now I feel these trending stuff on biofloc fish farming spreading in social media are largely misleading the laymen, especially budding entrepreneurs who have little experience in fish farming,” stated Jesso.Such videos claim that biofloc fish farming produces a yield of 600 kilogrammes of fish from just one tank within six months, but he could only get 100 kilogrammes of fish, he added.Raveendran Panjathodi, a resident of Karuvarakund from Malappuram district, stated that consultants are making money at the expense of gullible farmers. He alleged that biofloc fish farming is a way of income for the consultants and retailers, but not for the entrepreneurs.He believes that consultants are behind these misleading videos and promotions on social media. “In my understanding, this system is not viable to earn big profits by doing it in just one or two tanks. You can pursue this as a hobby like aquarium-keeping or as the means for using fish for your daily household needs,” stated Raveendran, who started last year, but is still unable to meet the expense of his capital investment.“Biofloc farming is a double-edged sword. As is evident in any field, it is not prudent to go for shortcut methods to get profit easily. Following this technology is not an easy task as wrongly perceived by many. It involves a set of scientific procedures and vigilant steps to follow", warned Dr K K VijayanBiofloc based compact rearing system for shrimp at CIBA. Credits: K V A KhadarThis system requires greater control over the rearing system with a cautious effort to keep a range of components such as adequate carbon to nitrogen ratio, aeration, power back-up, microbes and planktons among many others on a biological balance, stated Dr A Panigrahi, Principal Scientist at ICAR-CIBA.Govt initiativesThe recently launched Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) focuses on promoting biofloc fish farming across the country in a scientific way. Followed by this, state governments started offering attractive schemes to woo youngsters towards high-tech fish farming using technologies such as biofloc and Re-Circulating Aquaculture (RAS). Utilising the fund from the Hyderabad-headquartered National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Kerala Fisheries Department is providing a subsidy of around 40% of the total cost of the investment.Biofloc fish farming has been included in the ‘Subhikhsa Keralam’, an ambitious project implemented by the state government in the wake of COVID-19 to scale up agricultural production to meet increasing food demand. Kerala Fisheries Department officials are hopeful of increasing the domestic fish production from the state by means of high-tech farming practices like biofloc. They are also in favour of the demand that this technology should be adopted completely with scientific protocols. According to a government official, Kerala will have at least 6,000 biofloc units under the government’s scheme alone by December 31 this year.Patience, regular and continuous observation apart from hard work are required to succeed in this farming practice, stated Dr Mithun Sukumaran, Assistant Professor at the Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries at the University of Kerala. Aware of the booming wrong-practice buoyed by unrealistic claims by some private consultants, Dr Mithun suggested following scientific-oriented training and technical support from experts in the area.“We keep advising people to follow scientific procedures and help them receive technical expertise from the scientific community," stated B Ignatious Mandro, joint director of the state fisheries department.Referring to the wrong practice of the system, he mentioned that the fisheries department is aware of such videos on social media and the government has already started developing strategies to tackle this issue by organising training programmes. Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma herself posted an awareness message on this even few months back, he added.
How covid has hit India's first licensed fisherwoman hard
Thrissur, Kerala: Known as India’s first deepwater fisherwoman, Rekha Karthikeyan, 45, who is from Kerala’s Thrissur district, is now under severe distress owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.Hailing from the coastal village of Chettuva, the life of Rekha and her husband KV Karthikeyan was fairly comfortable until the pandemic-induced lockdown in March. The prohibitory orders, which spanned for a few months, and the absence of customers as people resigned to their homes even compelled Rekha on many occasions to dump her catch into the sea. Most of the days she failed to meet the fuel expenses for the fishing trips. Karthikeyan and Rekha preparing for one of their fishing trips. Credits: KVA KhadarEven though restrictions for fishing activities are relaxed now, finding a market for the captured fish is a huge challenge, Rekha stated. People are scared of contracting infection. The absence of people from markets has affected all types of business, including fish marketing, she added.She goes out to fish at 3 am, and after spending six to eight hours in the sea, she and her husband are now compelled to travel miles on their two-wheeler to find customers. Shot of Rekha Karthikeyan. Credits: KVA KhadarAccording to a study by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi, Kerala’s marine fisheries sector suffered a loss of Rs 3,481 crore in just 60 days starting March 23, day 1 of the strict nationwide lockdown. “The lockdown has resulted in considerable hardships to the fishermen community, in terms of loss in working days and resultant curtailment of income from fishing,” stated the report.With an apparent change in people’s fish-buying behaviour, fishers like Rekha who depend solely upon a particular harbour to sell their catch suffered hard, Dr Shinoj Parappurathu, Senior Scientist at the Socio-Economic and Evaluation division, CMFRI, told 101Reporters.The supply chain was disrupted as many people changed their purchasing locations while many others reduced fish consumption, he added. People in Kerala largely believed that coastal belts are the source of spreading the coronavirus pandemic, so they were reluctant to visit the fish market and fishing harbours even days after these resumed functioning, he highlighted.Dr KS Purushan, former Dean of the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, suggested that co-operative societies should have been strengthened during the time of COVID-19 to purchase the catch from traditional fishers. The fishers should be equipped with technological advancements helping them sell their catch online or other modes of electronic commerce, he told 101Reporters.He stated that the government should look into providing special financial packages to the fishing community during such a crisis.Life before COVID-19The sea was totally strange to Rekha as she was a native of a non-coastal area in Thrissur. It was only after her wedding that she moved to Chettuva and took to the sea. Rekha met Karthikeyan while she was doing a Hindi course in Thrissur. They got married despite caste differences and objections from family members.After her wedding, she didn’t want to be a housewife. When Karthikeyan turned to the sea to embrace his family profession after a series of unsuccessful ventures, Rekha joined him.“I did not compel her to accompany me, but I was desperately in need of a helper. To hire somebody on payment for this job was not affordable. However, Rekha was quick enough to realise the situation and joined me uninvited,” stated Karthikeyan.The coastal community fought tooth and nail against her and dissuaded her from going into the sea, as the community believed women weren’t supposed to venture into the sea, and, instead, they were expected to stay at home and pray for the safe return of their husband.Being a woman to venture out on the sea, she had to face a lot of stigma and jeers from the residents of the village, but she fought against the age-old traditions. “I don’t know why these kind of outdated beliefs still get prominence in our society. What will happen if a woman goes into the sea for fishing,” she argued, citing the fact that she is still the lone licensed deepwater fisherwoman in the country.The CMFRI officially recognised and felicitated Rekha as India’s first deepwater fisherwoman, felicitating her and her husband; they were given the title of “India’s first fisher couple” on May 5, 2017. Coincidently, it happens to be their wedding anniversary.According to CMFRI’s records, Rekha is the first woman to venture into the sea for fishing on an out-board boat, stated Dr A Gopalakrishnan, Director, CMFRI. Though there are fisherwomen engaged in fishing in backwaters, no record on a woman’s presence in fishing along the Indian coasts is available so far, he added.As soon as the CMFRI recognised the couple and identified Rekha as the first fisherwoman in the country, the Fisheries Department of Kerala stepped in and issued a passbook to her so that she could enjoy the allowances by the government given to those going for fishing into the sea. Photo of Rahul Gandhi felicitating Rekha Karthikeyan at a function held at Ernakulam in 2019. Credits: KVA KhadarCourageous and determined, Rekha slowly gained a celebrity status in Kerala, with government agencies and NGOs inviting her for various events where she shared her life-sketches with the audience. Her neighbours and native residents then started to realise that Rekha was growing larger than their imagination. A range of people and organisations from political leaders to activists listened to her while she shared anecdotes from her life. During his visit to Kerala prior to Lok Sabha election in 2019, even former Congress president Rahul Gandhi had praised Rekha for leading a heroic life.The present crisis has cast a shadow over Rekha’s life. “If this situation prevails for a few more months, we will be debt-ridden, which will put my children under pressure as it has become extremely difficult to sustain these days,” she stated.She has four daughter. 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