Seed production of selected fishes (IMC) of river Ganga using riverine germplasm:

To enhance the fish population in the Ganga River, ex-situ conservation of indigenous species in depleted areas may be an effective strategy to rejuvenate the fish population in its natural environment. For ex-situ conservation of wild fish germplasm, broodstock must be collected from the wild, reared, and bred in captivity to obtain good quality and genetically pure seed strains. The four commercially significant fish species of the Ganga River, namely Labeo rohita, Labeo catla, Cirrhinus mrigala, and Labeo calbasu, collectively referred to as Indian Major Carp (IMC), were chosen for the purpose. Since 2017, ICAR-CIFRI has implemented an extensive captive breeding effort under the NMCG project, which has been sustained annually until present day.

For the Indian major Carp (Labeo rohita, Labeo catla and Cirrhinus mrigala) seed raising and river ranching activities following steps have been followed

Fig1. Different steps of seed production and river ranching of Gangetic wild fish germplasm

Species	Indian Major Carps (Labeo rohita, Labeo catla, Cirrhinus mrigala and Labeo calbasu)
Year	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Spawn Production  (in lakh)	12	57	50	79.4	75	75	77	76

Maturity status checking of Broodfish	Selected brood fish for breeding
CPE injected to brooders	Stripping of brooders
Fertilized eggs	Produced spawn
Collection of spawn from hatching pool	Release of spawn to earthen nursery ponds