Chikmagalur women breed aquarium fish

CHIKMAGALUR: Women in Mudigere taluk have started rearing ornamental fish for profit. Currently, a dozen women have started rearing fish in the backyard of their houses with the assistance of the fisheries wing of the Regional Research Centre at Mudigere.
"The aquarium culture has started gaining ground and most of the houses want to have one at least one aquarium with ornamental fish.Even business establishments have shown interest. In this backdrop, the department has started rearing ornamental fish and a number of women in the taluk have come forward," Fisheries wing head and assistant professor AV Swamy told TOI.
He said, cement ponds measuring 6x4.5 ft are sufficient to rear gold fish, which are much sought after and each of them can be sold anywhere between Rs 60 and Rs 80.
Three males and two females would be released in the pond first and after the eggs are laid, hatching starts in another four days. Even after taking into consideration the mortality rate, one can get around 1,000 hatchlings. Once they weigh 100 gm, they can be sold. Gold fish rearing can fetch more than Rs 30,000-40,000 and the department helps those interested, Swamy said.