Development of Pangasius hypophthalmus polyculture production in Pakistan when cultured with freshwater and Chinese carps

Abstract

Abstract Pond-based aquaculture has developed as the main aquaculture system and plays a pivotal role in providing food fish, nutrition, incomes, and livelihoods for various value-chain actors in Pakistan. However, this technology is mainly used in intensive monoculture and little knowledge is available on polyculture approaches in Pakistan. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the growth and production of fish at the different species composition in polyculture. The experiment was conducted for 90 days at the department of Fisheries and Aquaculture UVAS, Lahore, Pakistan. There were three treatments each with three replications. In all treatments, the stocking density was similar at different species compositions. All the ponds were subjected to the same regime of feeding and fertilization. Fortnightly random sampling was done to adjust the feeding rate. In this study, the Pangasius hypothalamus, showed significant variations with a final weight of 385.34 g, in T1, and 318.50 g, in T3 compared to others. %weight gain and % SGR of pangasius were comparatively higher among other fishes in T1 and T3. FCR of pangas was recorded as 1.9, in T1, and 1.30, in T3, respectively which shows a better result as compared to the control and other groups. In addition, the polyculture of the pangas influenced the nitrate level which was increased in the high-density group as compared to low density and control. At the end of the trial, we observed the cortisol and glucose levels which showed non-significant variations among all treatments, which is a positive indicator that there was not any stress on pangasius in the polyculture system. Due to positive effects on growth parameters, it is concluded that the polyculture of pangas with only Indian and mixed (Indian and Chinese carp) could be tried to enhance the economic benefits in Pakistan.