March 21, 2007

Indian scientists develop bacteria resistant fish

A team of Indian scientists, working with another team from Norway said they have developed a variety of fish that resists aeromoniasis -- a common bacterial disease affecting hatcheries in India,

Aeromoniasis is the most common bacterial disease of freshwater fish. A fish infected with the bacteria develops fatal ulcers and haemorrhages on its body, causing severe economic loss to the fish farmers.

At present, no permanent solution is available to prevent or control this disease. Pramod Kumar Sahoo, one of the researchers, said with such a fish variety, farmers would enjoy more economic benefits as it is not only bacteria resistant but is also faster growing.

The new variety, named 'Jayanti', was developed in Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (Cifa) in Bhubaneswar.

One generation of selection for disease resistance has been completed with encouraging results, said Sahoo, a senior scientist at Cifa

Under the three-year project, researchers developed 15 different families of the fish through selective breeding technique and injected them with the same bacteria to study its resistance.

The results were encouraging, with the Jayanti Rohu recording 17 percent more growth with each generation.

However, the scientists said more research was needed to confirm the findings before farmers use the varieties and that could take another two years.