Journal of Fisheries and Life Sciences

Author(s): Jasmine Singha, Thangapalam Jawahar Abraham, Anwesha Roy, Gadadhar Dash, T Talagunda Srinivasan Nagesh and Prasanna Kumar Patil

Abstract: In Indian aquaculture, the information on the usage of aquadrugs is very little. The present survey focused on the aquadrugs, chemicals and biological products used in 676 freshwater farms from 15 districts of West Bengal between 2018 and 2019. The aquadrugs usage/ton fish production was calculated for each product. A total of 109 different products such as soil and water treatment compounds, disinfectants, piscicide, inorganic fertilizers, antimicrobials, antibiotics, pesticides, insecticides, feed additives, probiotics and herbal products were documented. The farmers of the South 24 Parganas and West Midnapur districts used the maximum (n=48) and least (n=7) number of products, respectively. Lime was the most common product used by the farmers (87.28%) amounting to 48.70±46.62 kg/ton fish production. The input in terms of quantity was dominated by mahua oil cake (233.19±189.87 kg/ton fish production). The antibiotic application was the least in West Bengal aquaculture, i.e., 0.35±0.23 L/ton fish production and 4.59±2.13 mg/ton fish production. The products of pesticides and insecticides were dominated by nuvan and formalin (17.62±9.33 mL/ton fish production) and ivermectin (1.33±1.29 g/ton fish production). The survey results indicated that the quantity of aquadrugs used in West Bengal was lower than those recorded in many other major fish producing countries. Nevertheless, the majority of the farmers lack knowledge on the appropriate dosage, mode of application and the impacts of aquadrugs. This study, therefore, calls for imparting appropriate knowledge on the use of authorized drugs, environmental impacts, standards on drug residues and consumer safety to the fish farmers