Abstract:
The exotic Oreochromis mossambi cus (Peters)
accounts -for about 80“/. of the inland fish production in Sri
Lanka at present. The bulk of the production comes from the
capture fishery in reservoirs and is mainly based on the
monospecific gill net fishery. The indigenous species
represented in the commercial catches are mostly limited to
Barbus sarana, and in certain reservoirs Labeo dussumieri
also occur in catches. However, apart from these species
there is a large population of minor cyprinids in perennial
reservoirs,which remain untapped at present.
The indigenous minor cyprinids could be
broadly categorised into two groups depending on the
catchability by gill nets of 15mm range and 30mm range
respectively. These minor cyprinids essentially inhabit the
deeper areas of the water bodies as the adult population of
0. mossa.mbi cus. The minor cyprinid fauna, differed marginally
from reservoir to reservoir. The main species of minor
cyprinids that were present are B .sarana, B .dorsali s
■«* B. chola, B. f i 1 amentosus , Ambl ypharynaodon mel ett i nus and
Rasbo’-a dan i coni ous. Thus with the use of the two
categories of gill nets viz. 15mm and 30mm range, the minor
cyprinids could be harvested without any detrimental effect
on the Q.mossambi cus fishery. The possibility of
introduction of a small meshed gill net fishery for minor
cyprinids is based on detailed analysis of catch curves of
each minor cyprinid species.
Commercial trials show that an
production o-f 705 kg ha-1 yt— 1 o-f minor cyprinic
be obtained. This indicates the possibility o-f intr
a viable subsidiary fishery based on minor c\
without effecting the excisting fishery. The pre3
indications are that the minor cyprinids also
considerable economic potential in that it could ser
food fish and also as a raw material for the f:
industry.
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