Tribal women from Pulicat earn ₹1 lakh from sale of farmed clownfish

A collective of tribal women from Chengi Amman Nagar in Pulicat in Tiruvallur District has managed to rake in ₹1 lakh from the sale of clownfish provided to them to rear as part of project funded by the Tamil Nadu Tribal Welfare Department.

A total of 25 women beneficiaries, who were artisanal fisherfolk catching crabs and shrimps by hand in the Pulicat backwaters, were provided with captive propagated clownfish seeds, feed, and technical support by the National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

In less than three months, the fish reached marketable size and were sold off on Thursday during an event to mark Women Farmers’ Day. About 500 individual fish belonging to six species were sold to M/s. Sunshine Aquaria, Kolathur.

The beneficiaries were given extensive training at the ICAR-NBFGR hatchery facility in Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, Parangipettai, a press release stated. The initiative helps create sustainable income opportunities from high-value ornamental fish culture and contributes to conservation by reducing dependence on wild collection and supporting reef biodiversity, the release added.