Aquatic park set to raise the bar on ornamental fish trade

As India’s first Aquatic Rainbow Technology Park (ARTP) is gearing up for inauguration, the stakeholders are confident that it would put the ornamental fish trade in the global map for exotic fish business.

Sources said the project would be inaugurated soon by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and will be thrown open for the stakeholders on the already agreed models – either by rental or lease. It is expected to compete with Singapore, which remains on top of the ladder in terms of the sale of ornamental fish. The ARTP project, funded by the State’s Innovation Initiatives (2015 -2016), is aimed at developing advanced infrastructure, to promote modern production technologies for ornamental aquaculture, besides improving skills of ornamental fish culturists in the state. Executed at a cost of Rs 10 crore, it is expected to cater to the needs of 200 to 250 ornamental fish culturists.

The project’s components are multispecies ornamental fish hatchery (10 units), indoor raceway systems (10 units), outdoor raceway cum RAS systems (10 units), live feed culture nit (1 unit), disease diagnostic laboratory, quarantine (2 units), and trading cum shopping complex (50). It is coming up in the Advanced Research Farm Facility (ARFF), Madhavaram, an off-campus facility of Fisheries College and Research Institute (FCRI), Ponneri. Sources said the state was looking for a separate operation and management (O&M) company, to handle the facility for the Tamil Nadu Fisheries University (TNFU).

Kolathur’s once undisputed monopoly in the ornamental fish trade across the nation for over four decades, has recently been strained, due to several reasons, including urbanisation and lack of resources. The project was initially slated to be implemented in Kolathur, as it is dubbed as the ornamental fish trade hub of the country.

“As the land costs delayed the project’s take-off, the stakeholders were wary of the operating costs.

This forced the hand of the officials to look for an alternative site. TNFU Vice Chancellor S Felix, who also heads the project, proposed the off-campus facility of FCRI in Ponneri. The same was conceded by the State in consensus with the stakeholders,” revealed a senior IAS officer.

Kolathur Ornamental Fish Farmer Cooperative Soceity(KOFFCS) president NUS Veeramindhan said that it all began 40 years ago, when a few, including a senior Railway official residing in Kolathur, started breeding ornamental fish as a hobby.

“They frequented Singapore and brought the ornamental fish here.

They attempted breeding, which flourished, due to the conducive environment, and the entire neighbourhood was caught up with this trade”, he recalled.

“We are the national leaders in the trade and about 60 per cent of our sales comes from the belief in ‘vastu’.

Once looked upon as a status symbol of the rich, aquariums find its place in the plan of every upcoming building in our country”, he added. Expanding further, Veeramindhan said, “We need to infuse more technology as the trade has been strained due to rapid urbanisation in Kolathur and lack of infrastructure in the backyard hatcheries too taking its toll. This would be a boon.”

Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar referred to the ARTP project as the late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s dream project.

“She took special interest in the project ever since it was presented to her. She was reviewing its progress consistently”, Jayakumar said. “We would provide end- to- end solution for ornamental fish farmers, who will be trained in the technical nuances, right from breeding to the point of sale. The project is nearing completion and will go live within a few days,” he said. An exclusive mall of about 50 retail shops selling both indigenous and exotic ornamental fish species will come up on the campus, and a site has already been earmarked. The construction of the same will begin shortly