Goan team learns mussel farming in Kerala

PANJIM, FEB 4
A study team from Goa comprising officers of the Brackish Fish Farmers Development Authority (BFFDA), fish farmers, fishermen and entrepreneurs, was on a visit to observe farms breeding edible Indian oysters (calvam) and mussels (xinnaneo) in the backwaters at Moothakunnam Tharayilkavala near Paravoor, Kochi, last week.
The 22-member team was led by BFFDA (Goa) Assistant Director Anjaly Menezes Ticlo.
Kerala has made remarkable progress in the cultivation of oyster and mussel. The Aquaculture Development Agency of Kerala (ADAK) has provided the technology in the backwaters of Moothakunnam, Sathar Island and Puthenvelikkara areas, and extended financial support to the farmers.
 More than 500 families in the Moothakunnam area make their living through oyster and mussel farming and marketing.
Fish farmers produced 16,000 tonnes of mussels and 300 tonnes of oysters in Kerala last year, K Sunilkumar Mohamed, Head of the Department of Molluscan Fisheries Division in the Central Marine Fisheries Development Institute said.
All is not smooth sailing, though. The high cost of mussel spats is causing great difficulties and reducing the income of the oyster farmers. An increase in its demand has raised its cost to Rs 1,400, the fishermen said.
The majority of spats are collected from the northern parts of the state. Farmers are demanding that mussel hatcheries be set up to supply mussel spats at low cost.
A proposal to set up a mussel hatchery was dropped earlier, when the govt found that the project was not economically viable. But in the light of the huge increase in the price of fish and its scarcity, the demand for oyster and mussel has gone up. Setting up of mussel hatcheries would help farmers to get better quality spats at an affordable cost.
The BFFDA officers from Goa wished to link the oyster and mussel farming in the backwaters to tourism. The study report will be immediately submitted to the govt of Goa to enable the Fisheries Department to include the development project in the next financial year.