Farhana Hoque

• Ph.D
• Scientist at Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture

Use of probiotics as the biocontrol agent for disease prevention in aquaculture is gaining importance as an alternative to the indiscriminate use of antibiotics and other chemotherapeutics. In view of this trend, the probiotic properties of a potent antagonistic bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa FARP72, was characterized in terms of safety, antagon...

Pathogenesis and immune gene expression of the iridescent shark catfish Pangasianodon hypophthalmus to experimental Edwardsiella tarda infection was studied. Healthy Pangasianodon were inoculated intramuscularly with a sub-lethal dose of 1.77 × 107 cells/fish of E. tarda to induce edwardsiellosis. Petechial haemorrhages, inflammation at the site of...

In the present work, the salinity tolerance level of Indian major carp, Catla catla, genetically improved Labeo rohita (Jayanti rohu) and Cirrhinus mrigala were ascertained in terms of weight gain and mortality by exposing the fishes gradually to different levels of salinities for 45 days. Overall analysis of the result showed that, the severity of...

The problem of sewage disposal has received great attention worldwide. The raw sewage contains a variety of high inorganic and organic matters that affect natural water environment. To mitigate such problem, sewage may be recycled through aquaculture practice. Sewage recycling in aquaculture enhances water productivity through nutrients input. Prop...

Adhesion is recognized as the first important step of a probiont for intestinal colonization. This study assessed the ability of an antagonistic Pseudomonas aeruginosa FARP72 to adhere and colonize the intestine of yellowtail catfish, Pangasius pangasius both in vitro and in vivo. For the in vitro assay, the whole intestines of each of two starved...

Hematology is one of the essential tools in the diagnosis of diseases in fish and in understanding physiological and pathological conditions. This chapter presents an overview of hematological techniques, highlighting their importance in aquaculture and in the management of fish health. The introductory chapter establishes the importance of blood a...

The barred spiny eel, Macrognathus pancalus, is a high-value food fish with significant market demand but limited aquaculture due to the absence of a defined culture protocol. Health monitoring is crucial for early disease detection, risk assessment, and optimizing rearing conditions and disease management. Hence, this study evaluated the health st...

Biosecurity is a holistic and strategic concept that encompasses the frameworks, policies, and regulations aimed at analyzing and managing risks related to food safety, public health, animal and plant life and health, as well as associated environmental risks. The complex link between biosecurity measures and disease control in aquaculture is discu...

Small indigenous fish species (SIS) are a rich source of essential nutrients, including proteins, vitamins, and minerals, making them a vital component of rural diets. Despite their nutritional significance, SIS are often undervalued and excluded from aquaculture in favor of larger commercial species. This study highlights an initiative by ICAR-CI...

An eight-month study (May to December 2022) was conducted to evaluate the reproductive traits of Amazon sailfin catfish Pterygoplichthys pardalis in relation to the nutrient contents (nitrogen and phosphorus) of the invaded sites of East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW), India. Over the study period, a total of 608 adult specimens of the fish and 120 water s...

The prevalence of sailfin catfishes (Pterygoplichthys spp.) in inland waters, including vast aquaculture systems of India is rising. This might be a serious threat to the country’s native freshwater biological resources and aquaculture production. Therefore, studies were carried out to evaluate the impact of Amazon sailfin catfish Pterygoplichthys...

Ompok bimaculatus is a commercially important food fish of Northeast India. For higher production of this species, the molecular mechanisms underlying its reproductive physiology is an important aspect to study. Vegetable oils are rich in ω3 and ω6 fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins, that enhance reproductive performances. In the present study, O...

Livelihood improvement of Scheduled Caste fish farmers of Sonarpur block of South 24 pargans of West Bengal, India though intervention of Scientific Aquaculture.

Photoperiod manipulation is emerging as an effective approach for regulating physiological functions in fish. This study aimed to assess the impact of photoperiod on the growth performance, haematological responses, and economic returns of the endangered and highly valued Indian butter catfish, Ompok bimaculatus. Fish with an average body weight of...

The striped spiny eel, Macrognathus pancalus, is a bottom-dwelling fi sh belonging to the family Mastacembelidae under the order Mastacembeliformes. Indigenous to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Nepal (Pathak et al. 2012), this species inhabits rivers, canals, beels, karanjali, tanks, ponds, paddy fi elds, and wetlands. Often r...

Invading sailfin catfish Pterygoplichthys spp. in East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW), India were studied for their length-weight relationship (LWR), condition factor and reproductive characteristics covering pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. Using seine nets, fish samples were taken every month from May to December 2022 from five distinct EKW...

The growth and development of Naihati fish market seems promising, vibrant and sustainable. The market is unique because of a diverse group pf professionals including fishery, management, research,academics, traders are involved in seed trade. Facilities and amenities that Naihati market maintains are both attractive and customers are trade friendl...

Fish continues to attract considerable scientific interest as they are the most diverse community of vertebrates and a major component of a growing global aquaculture market. Complex assemblages of microbes, collectively known as the gut microbiota, colonize the digestive tracts of vertebrates. The gut microbiome plays a key role in fish health by...

Edwardsiella tarda is one of the serious pathogens of catfish. The most promising methods of disease control nowadays in aquaculture are to strengthen the defence mechanisms in fish through prophylactic administration of immunostimulants. This study assessed the effects of dietary yeast extract (YE) on the innate immunity, viz., respiratory oxidati...

The present study was executed to evaluate the effect of photoperiod on serum biochemical parameters (glucose, cortisol, ALT, AST and LDH), electrolytic balance (Sodium and potassium), acute phase response (CRP) and histopathology (liver, kidney and skin) of an endangered high valued catfish, Ompok bimaculatus. Catfish (21.00 ± 1.53 cm and 30.00 ±...

GENETIC IMPROVEMENT OF GIANT PRAWN Macrobrachium rosenbergii THROUGH SELECTIVE BREEDING IN INDIA- STATUS AND SCOPE Bindu R. Pillai*, D. Panda, K. D. Mahapatra, P.K. Sahoo, R. Ponzoni, R. Rathod, F. Hoque, S. Sahu, B. Mishra, N. Naik, Jyoti, R. Kannauj, A. Champati, Pravin, P., A. Das and A. Miriyala ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquacultur...

The infestation of freshwater fish lice belonging to the genus Argulus occur repeatedly in freshwater fish farms due to poor management practices. Preventative methods and regular monitoring often fails to control the outbreak, and in tum chemical interventions become necessary. In the present study, the outbreak of freshwater fish lice Argulus in...

This study highlights a transfonnative initiative in the villages of Saheberabad I & II and Baburabad, located in South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, aimed at enhancing livelihoods and fostering entrepreneurship among marginalized communities. The region primarily relies on agriculture, with limited cultivable land and scarce irrigation facilities. Two...

Moyna of Purba Medinipur district is widely known as an aquaculture hub of West Bengal, India. Though very good production is achievable from this fish culture system, management practices are inappropriate, which could create the sustainability problem of this culture system. The present study was thus undertaken for the estimation of plankton pop...

This work is basically on Livelihood development of Rural People Sonarpur block of South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India. The people were benifitated withscientific intervention of Aquaculture practices.

Tenualosa ilisha popularly known as ‘Hilsa’ is one of the most commercially important euryhaline food fish species in South Asian countries. Co-infection of Fusarium incarnatum FHHS2 and Acinetobacter bohemicus FHHK1 was reported for the first time in captive-reared pre-adult T. ilisha (average length 22.30 ± 0.92 cm and weight 93.48 ± 28.06 g) tha...

The present study depicts the disease incidences in the aqua farms of Moyna, West Bengal, India, during 2018-2020 and aqua-drugs used by farmers to combat diseases. A total of 132 fish disease incidences were reported, among which parasitic diseases were the most common (53.03%) followed by bacterial diseases (27.27%), diseases due to poor nutritio...

The complex assemblages of microbes colonize in the digestive tracts of fish play a key role in health by development and modulation of the mucosal innate and adaptive immune system, exerting imperative part in outcompete opportunistic pathogens by preserving gut integrity and regulating intestinal barrier permeability. Apart, gut microbiome assist...

The present study depicts the disease incidences in the aqua farms of Moyna, West Bengal, India, during 2018- 2020 and aqua-drugs used by farmers to combat diseases. A total of 132 fish disease incidences were reported, among which parasitic diseases were the most common (53.03%) followed by bacterial diseases (27.27%), diseases due to poor nutriti...

Aquaculture is considered an integral part of achieving food security and poverty reduction by providing nutritional, and livelihood security to millions of people around the world. However, poor health management and a lack of proper diagnostic facilities create problems in the early identification of pathogens leading to mass mortality in fish. H...

Edwardsiella tarda is one of the serious bacterial pathogens infecting both cultured and wild catfish urging an immediate need for effective protection strategies. This study assessed the effects of dietary supplementation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa FARP72 at 10⁸ cells/g feed (PA diet) for 30 days on the innate immunity parameters, viz., respiratory...

The catfish Ompok bimaculatus (butter catfish) has recently gained importance as an aquaculture candidate species because of its delicious taste, higher nutritional value and market demand. A significant problem in butter catfish aquaculture is its inability to voluntarily spawn in captivity. This experiment was conducted to study the impact of pho...

The paper deals with Livelihood improvement through Aquaculture of Scheduled Caste Farmers of Kultali Block of West Bengal ,India

The incidence of severe vertebral deformity was reported in the specimens of the Amazon sailfin catfish Pterygoplichthys pardalis (Castelnau, 1855) for the first time in India. Fish samples were collected on bimonthly basis during June 2019 to December 2020, from wastewater-fed large aquaculture impoundments (locally called ‘bheries’) of north west...

Sailfin armoured catfish (Pterygoplichthys spp.), an alien invasive species of family Loricariidae has invaded extensively in wastewater-fed large aquaculture ponds (locally called 'bheries') of East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW), West Bengal, India. As there is no viable controlling method at present, commonly these fishes are removed by different physic...

Aquaculture is moving at a rapid pace and is the great hope to fulfill the protein requirement of future world population. However, with the increased stocking densities disease has almost become an integral part of aquaculture bringing huge mortalities and economic losses. An effective health management practice is therefore required to tackle thi...

The intensification in the aquaculture sector have given rise to an ideal environment for increased disease outbreak from existing and newly emerging pathogens causing heavy financial losses (Flegel, 2006; Lafferty et al., 2015; Opiyo et al., 2018). Indiscriminate use of antibiotics and chemotherapeutics to control diseases in aquaculture advocated...

The world's appetite for fish is growing steadily. Aquaculture has bridged that gap between the growing demand for fish and the almost stagnated wild fish catch, contributing at present nearly 47% of the world's total fish production of 171 million tonnes. Global aquaculture production has almost doubled between 2000 and 2016, it is estimated that,...

The world's appetite for fish is growing steadily. Aquaculture has bridged that gap between the growing demand for fish and the almost stagnated wild fish catch, contributing at present nearly 47% of the world's total fish production of 171 million tonnes. Global aquaculture production has almost doubled between 2000 and 2016, it is estimated that,...

Rapid spread and population increase of suckermouth armoured catfishes belonging to the genus Pterygoplichthys (Loricariidae) in the East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW) in recent times is of increasing concern, because of the notable possibility that these non-native catfishes are adversely affecting fish germplasm and commercial fishery of this unique eco...

Partial characterisation of secondary metabolites of a potent antagonistic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa FARP72 (NCBI GenBank Accession No. KC570343) isolated from the skin mucus of catfish Clarias batrachus was attempted in this study. The antagonistic activity of P. aeruginosa was confirmed by cross and parallel streaking methods against three...

Aquaculture is an important economic activity and a flourishing sector in India with varied resources and vast potentials, growing at the pace of 4.5% annually, contributing to national income, employment generation and foreign exchange. Sundarbans, the world’s largest delta is a globally recognised ecologically sensitive area of West Bengal. This...

Unauthorized introduction of South American suckermouth armoured catfishes (Loricariidae) of the genus Pterygoplichthys into the waste water bheries of East Kolkata Wetland, West Bengal has led to their noticeable naturalization in this ecosystem. A total of 439 specimens collected during this study were externally evaluated for affirming the speci...

Unauthorized introduction of South American suckermouth armoured catfishes (Loricariidae) of the genus Pterygoplichthys into the waste water bheries of East Kolkata Wetland, West Bengal has led to their noticeable naturalization in this ecosystem. A total of 439 specimens collected during this study were externally evaluated for affirming the speci...

The present study was conducted to know the fish health management practices and adaptations prevailing in the dominant fish producing state of India. Primary data was collected from the small and marginal fish farmers of West Bengal by personal interview. Literature review was also done to collect secondary information. The study reveals that thou...

The insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) plays an important role in the regulation of development and growth of fish. Aquaculture researchers consider it as a potential growth rate indicator. Reports on the IGF-1 of carps are limited. This study was undertaken to determine the serum IGF-1 levels of Indian major carps (IMCs) cultured in the normal p...

The present work was conducted to identify the cause of mass mortality taken place in farm reared Mystus gulio. More than two thousand advanced fry died overnight without any prior symptoms. Sixty specimens were necropsied for parasitological analysis. Skin, gill and intestine biopsies were prepared from each specimen following standard methods for...

Aquaculture supplies currently account for nearly 50 percent of the food fish that consumed globally (FAO, 2009) and are targeted to increase to 60 percent by 2020 (FAO, 2008). Considering that the capture fisheries component of fish supply has almost reached a saturation level of approximately 100 million tonnes per year; the growing food fish nee...

A search for antagonistic bacteria from the skin mucus of Indian major carps and freshwater catfish was attempted. A total of 41 potent antagonistic bacterial strains were isolated, purified and identified from 25 fish samples, of which 82.93% (n=34) were Gram positive and 17.07% (n=7) were Gram-negative bacteria. Antagonistic activity of these bac...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa FARP72 was isolated from the skin mucus of freshwater catfish (Clarias batrachus) as a potent antagonistic bacterium. Efforts have made to assess the antagonistic activity against potential fish and human bacterial pathogens in vitro. Antagonistic effects were confirmed by cross-streaking method against pathogenic bacteria su...