In first of its kind, Kona Bay supplies a charter flight load of 3600 shrimp broodstock to Saptagiri Group of Hatcheries. All the broodstock will arrive at RGCA Aquatic Quarantine Facility in Chennai early morning tomorrow (16 August 2020) in a special charter flight from Hawaii, USA.
Speaking to AQUA POST about the development, Hari Narayan Rao, Indian Technical Manager-India, Kona Bay said, “For the first time, M/S Satpagiri group of companies is importing a complete charter flight with 3600 animals of speed growth line from KONA BAY which can grow faster in the winter season. This is going to arrive tomorrow early morning on 16th August 2020 and tentatively seed production of this batch may start from the last week of September 2020.”
Expecting a hike in demand for the quality shrimp seed during the coming winter season in India, S S N Reddy, Executive Partner, Saptagiri Group of Hatcheries said, “ We expect there will be an increase in the demand for the quality shrimp seeds during the winter season this time. We are the highest importer of brood-stock in India. We import 30000 animals per year”.
Adding further he said, “It is for the first time an individual hatchery group is importing a cargo flight load of animals at a time. We are getting 3600 broodstock in a special flight from Kona Bay- Hawaii to Chennai. It will exclusively cater our requirements”.
Talking about the performance of the seeds, Reddy said, “We have been importing Kona Bay broodstock for the last five years. It has a good survival as well as growth rate. They have improved the genetic line. We are importing the speed growth line animals. It is expected to perform very well in the farm and we are expecting to release the seeds to the farmers in the last week of September”
With unlocking of business activities and opening up of restaurants and hotels, the shrimp business is expected to slowly return to normalcy. The demand for shrimp products is expected to pick up.
Amidst the nationwide lockdown, Kona Bay had supplied 14300 broodstcok to India in the month of June.
About 250 hatcheries in India are importing broodstock regularly. On average 2.5 to 3 lakh broodstocks are required in the country every year.
(Please send us your feedback and interesting articles at aquapostnews@gmail.com.)
