Major Sustainability Issues and Comparative Sustainability Assessment of Wild Caught Indigenous Ornamental Fishes Exported from Kerala, India

Liya Jayalal; Ramachandran A.

doi:10.56093/ft.v50i2.29162

Authors

Liya Jayalal School of Industrial Fisheries, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin - 682 016
Ramachandran A. School of Industrial Fisheries, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin - 682 016

https://doi.org/10.56093/ft.v50i2.29162

Keywords:

India, Kerala, ornamental fish, sustainability indicators, chain of custody, Garret ranking

Abstract

India has an unenviable status as far as ornamental fish industry is concerned. The export of ornamental fish from India, during the year 2010-2011, was only 1.26 million US$. About 90% of the freshwater ornamental fish species exported from India are wild caught. Though the industry is in its infancy stage, there are numerous environmental and sustainability issues related to it. The study examines the chain of custody of wild caught indigenous ornamental fish exported from Kerala and highlights the various sustainability issues along the chain of custody. A comparative sustainability assessment was also done for the three major exported indigenous species which are, Tetraodon travancoricus, Dario dario and Puntius denisonii, using sustainability indicators. The study shows that absence of reliable scientific data and presence of an unorganized sector hamper the conservation efforts.