Clownfish hatchery to open in city

Mumbai: The mangrove cell has started the work of hatchery of clownfish to boost production of fisheries in the state. The hatchery set up at the marine interpretation centre in Airoli will house seven species of clownfish from various states. The officials stated that after rearing these fish at the centre for two months, they will be directly sold to fishermen and coastal communities across Maharashtra.

The hatchery unit currently has more than 20 tanks, which are only for mating and brooding of clownfish. “We are going to have separate tanks for their larvae, where they will be reared and then they will be transferred to other tanks, where their growth will be monitored. We have also provided sea anemone, an aquatic terrestrial plant, that provides protection to these fish,” said Makarand Ghodke, assistant conservator of forest, state mangrove cell.

The unit will have more than 50 tanks for rearing larvae and around 25 tanks for the grown clownfish. “We will officially start the hatchery in December and an estimated 5,000 clownfish are available for production,” said Mr Ghodke.

Apart from tanks for the clownfish, there will be separate tanks for rearing phytoplankton.