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Lead Centre: ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR), Lucknow
Collaborating Units: 4 centres
Background and Rationale
The challenges and importance associated with natural genetic resources, including those from aquatic ecosystems, is undergoing paradigm shift. This shift stems from the basic fact that growing population of the world need to be not only fed but should be nutritionally secure. In this context, agrodiversity or bioresources for food and agriculture take the center stage. The genetic resources are basic ingredient for enhancing food production. Therefore, from fisheries perspective the conservation of an economically important species in the wild is as important as enhancing production of its conspecifics through domestication and aquaculture. The agrodiversity in aquatic systems also faces threats with wide ranging causes including overexploitation, habitat alterations and constrictions, reduced environmental flow of water in rivers and introduction of non-native species, and is leading to more species becoming threatened. Such species could be restricted in sanctuaries and protected areas or in the wild with fragmented low population sizes. Many of the threatened species may even become extinct unless species-specific recovery programmes are initiated. Therefore, incorporating strategies for enhancement and utilization with conservation efforts will be fruitful in harnessing potential of genetic resources to ensure sustained livelihood of masses. In such perspective, aquaculture development itself can be critically useful for conservation, as the availability of diversified species will satisfy consumer demand and reduce pressure on natural resources of such species.

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Objectives
  1. To develop active germplasm resource centres for prioritised indigenous fish species for conservation aquaculture.
  2. To develop propagation practices for prioritised indigenous fish germplasm for utilization in conservation and economically viable aquaculture.
Targets/Activities
  1. Prioritization of species and working partners at regional level.
  2. Identification of research gaps and technology intervention for individual species need to be filled for developing propagation practices.
  3. Baseline surveys to identify abundance of wild fish, capture statistics, relative contribution to capture (quantity & value), locality for brood collection and rehabilitation programme.
  4. Development of Broodstock through wild collection to establish effective breeding population of species. 200 to 300, with near equal sex ratio; number could vary depending upon biology of fish species.
  5. Inventory of data pertaining to life history traits/ biological parameters and molecular genotyping of tagged individuals in captivity.
  6. Technological Intervention for breeding of captive broodstock.
  7. Rearing protocols (Nutritional requirement, wherever not known) from larvae to fry to fingerling.
  8. Aquaculture: Grow out in monoculture/ polyculture, economic advantage and feasibility analysis, establishment of domesticated brood stock.
  9. Conservation: Selection of Protected Sites for Propagation assisted rehabilitation & stock enhancement.
  10. Protocols for cryopreservation of sperm and embryonic cells for long term storage germplasm or utilization in breeding programmes and utility for enhancing breeding population.

Copyright (C) 2016 All Rights Resereved, ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources,
Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Ministry of Agriculture (Govt. of India), Pusa Campus, New Delhi-110012, INDIA