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Core Purpose

The Central Government notifies the Hatcheries and Farms for Seed Production and Culture of Indigenous Shrimp in Marine and Brackishwater Guidelines, 2025, to regulate the production and culture of indigenous shrimp species.

Detailed Summary

The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying (Department of Fisheries) issued Notification S.O. 2903(E) on June 26, 2025, notifying the "Hatcheries and Farms for Seed Production and Culture of Indigenous Shrimp in Marine and Brackishwater Guidelines, 2025." These guidelines, effective from their publication date, are promulgated under section 3 of the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act, 2005 (24 of 2005), read with clause (j) of rule 3 of the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Rules, 2024. They cover indigenous shrimp species including Penaeus indicus, P. monodon, P. semisulcatus, P. mergueinsis, P. japonicus, and other Central Government-permitted indigenous species. Part I details safeguards and regulations for hatcheries, requiring registration with the Coastal Aquaculture Authority by submitting Form II, documents from Schedule II, and a fee of rupees ten thousand, following rule 9. Hatcheries must have biosecurity and in-house quarantine facilities, adhere to strict sanitary requirements (e.g., disinfection protocols for personnel, vehicles, and implements), manage water intake and wastewater discharge (including treatment with hypochlorite solution, ozonation, and an Effluent Treatment System designed by the Authority), and maintain specific broodstock collection, quarantine, and maintenance procedures. Quarantine involves screening for World Organisation for Animal Health listed pathogens and those of concern to India, with samples referred to labs like the Aquatic Quarantine Facility at Neelankarai or ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture. Seed production and sale are regulated, prohibiting pharmacologically active substances (per rule 18(1)(c)), restricting nauplii sales to permitted hatcheries, and post-larvae sales to Authority-registered farmers. Hatcheries must submit quarterly compliance reports in Form J-1, maintain detailed records, and report disease outbreaks immediately. Approved hatcheries must pay a rupees fifty thousand monitoring fee and deposit a bank guarantee of two lakh rupees with the Coastal Aquaculture Authority. Part II outlines norms for farms, requiring registration via Form I, Schedule II documents, and a registration fee as per Schedule I, following rule 9. Farms must establish biosecurity measures, follow water discharge protocols (including chlorination/dechlorination of wastewater, especially during disease outbreaks), and are not permitted to simultaneously farm Specific Pathogen Free species. Culture norms mandate procuring tested seed from authorised hatcheries, specific stocking densities (e.g., P. indicus not exceeding 60 no./m² and other indigenous species not exceeding 30 no./m² for conventional earthen ponds), strict compliance with wastewater standards monitored under the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Regulations, 2008, and prohibition of specified pharmacologically active substances. Farms must maintain detailed records of seed procurement, production, and sales, which are subject to inspection. Violations are subject to penalties under the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act and rules.

Full Text

REGD. No. D. L.-33004/99 The Gazette of India CG-DL-E-02072025-264286 EXTRAORDINARY PART II-Section 3-Sub-section (ii) PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY No. 2836] NEW DELHI, MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2025/ASHADHA 9, 1947 4288 GI/2025 MINISTRY OF FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING (Department of Fisheries) Notification New Delhi, the 26th June, 2025 S.O. 2903(E).— In pursuance of the section 3 of the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act, 2005 (24 of 2005), read with clause (j) of rule 3 of the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Rules, 2024, the Central Government hereby notifies the following guidelines for indigenous shrimp which includes both Penaeus indicus, P. monodon, P. semisulcatus, P. mergueinsis, P. japonicus and any other indigenous species permitted by the Central Government, namely:- 1. Short title and commencement.- (1) These guidelines may be called the Hatcheries and Farms for Seed Production and Culture of Indigenous Shrimp in Marine and Brackishwater Guidelines, 2025. (2) They shall come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. PART I Safeguards and regulations for operation of hatcheries for indigenous shrimp 1. Application criteria for registration of hatchery for indigenous shrimp.- (1) Hatcheries engaged or intending to be engaged in indigenous shrimp seed production having the required biosecurity facilities and in-house quarantine facility as specified by the Coastal Aquaculture Authority shall be eligible to apply for registration under the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act, 2005 (24 of 2005) (hereinafter refereed as the said Act) and the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Rules, 2024 (hereinafter referred as the said rules) to procure indigenous shrimp broodstock or to acquire from indigenous domesticated source and to produce and sell nauplii or post larvae of these shrimp. (2) The hatchery operator shall submit an application in Form II of the said rules to the Authority duly enclosing therewith the required documents as specified in the Schedule II of the said rules and payment of registration fee of rupees ten thousand for registration of hatchery in accordance with the procedure laid down in rule 9 of the said rules. (3) Approval of the hatchery for rearing indigenous shrimp seed shall be given by the Authority after due inspection of the hatchery facilities by a team constituted by the Authority for this purpose in accordance with the procedure laid down in rule 11 of the said rules. (4) The hatchery facilities shall have strict biosecurity control through physical separation or isolation of the different production facilities or isolation through the construction of barriers and implementation of process and product flow controls. (5) The hatchery facility shall have a wall or fence around the periphery of the premises, with adequate height to prevent the entry of animals and unauthorised persons to help reduce the risk of pathogen introduction by this route, as well as improve overall security. 2. Sanitary requirement.- (1) Entry to the hatchery shall be restricted to the personnel assigned to work exclusively in this area and a record of personnel entering the facility be maintained by the security personnel. (2) The entry of any person including staff shall be allowed compulsorily after taking shower and wearing working clothes and boots before entering into facility and the same procedure shall be followed at the end of the working shift. (3) A provision shall be made for disinfection of vehicle tyres (tyre baths at the gate with > 100 ppm of active ingredients Sodium/calcium hypochlorite solution), feet (foot baths containing 50 ppm of Potassium permanganate/ 20 ppm of hypochlorite solution), and hands [bottles containing iodine- PVP (20 ppm and /or 70% alcohol)] to be used upon entering and exiting the unit. (4) All the cleaning chemicals, sanitary chemicals and other inputs materials shall be stored separately with proper labelling outside the production area. (5) Hatchery surrounding shall be maintained hygienically throughout the production cycle without any accumulation of waste materials. 3. Water intake.- (1) Each functional unit of the hatchery shall have independent water treatment facility isolated from all other water supply systems and separate recirculation systems may be used for each functional unit of hatchery to reduce water usage and improve biosecurity, especially in high-risk areas. (2) Water for the hatchery shall be filtered and treated to prevent the entry of vectors and pathogens that may be present in the source water by initial filtering through sub-sand well points, sand filters (gravity or pressure), or mesh bag filters, into the first reservoir or settling tank. (3) After primary disinfection by chlorination or ozonation and after settlement, the water shall be filtered again with a finer filter and then disinfected using ultraviolet light or ozone. (4) The water supply system shall include the use of activated carbon filters, ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid and temperature and salinity regulation. 4. Water treatment and discharge of wastewater.- (1) The discharged water from the hatchery shall be held temporarily and treated with hypochlorite solution (>20 ppm active chlorine for not less than sixty minutes) or other effective disinfectant prior to discharge. (2) The seawater to be used in the facility shall be delivered into a storage tank where it shall be treated with hypochlorite solution (20 ppm active ingredient for not less than thirty minutes) followed by sodium thiosulphate (1 ppm for every ppm of residual chlorine) or ozonation and strong aeration. (3) No wastewater will be released out of the hatcheries without chlorination and dechlorination, so as to prevent the escape of the pathogens or parasites into the natural waters and Effluent Treatment System shall be designed as specified by the Authority. 5. Disinfection of implements.- (1) Used containers and hoses shall be washed and disinfected with hypochlorite solution (> 50 ppm) before further use. (2) Each broodstock and larval rearing tanks shall have a separate set of implements which shall be clearly marked and placed near the tanks and disinfection of all the implements shall be done at the end of each day’s use. 6. Broodstock collection.- (1) The collection and transportation shall be stress free and the fishing ground shall be as far as from the coast. (2) The matured male and female broodstock shall be procured. (3) All brooders shall be packed individually to avoid cross contamination and may be transported in insulated vehicles with a facility for suitable aeration connection. (4) Upon arrival at the hatchery, the broodstock shall be treated with 100 ppm KMnO4 or liquid povidone for one minute before being stocked in the tanks. (5) The broodstock shall be free from pathogens, injuries or deformities, may be transported to the facility with individually packed in broodstock bags in oxygenated water. (6) Record on the traceability of the source of these stocks shall be maintained to avoid in breeding. 7. Quarantine.- (1) the hatchery operator shall establish a proper and fully bio-secured facility. (2) Broodstock collected shall be quarantined in this in-house facility before entry in to hatchery. (3) In case of domesticated broodstock, periodic disease surveillance shall be carried out. (4) Quarantine discharge water shall be treated separately before releasing into effluent treatment system. (5) Screening for World Organisation for Animal Health listed pathogens and pathogens of concern to India shall be done. (6) During quarantine period, samples may be collected using non-lethal methods (pleopod or faecal matter) from individual brooders for screening. (7) The sample shall be referred to Aquatic Quarantine Facility laboratory at Neelankarai or Indian Council of Agricultural Research- Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture laboratory or any other accredited laboratory for testing of relevant pathogens. (8) Based on the test report of the sample, the quarantined shrimp shall be shifted to broodstock holding tanks after the quarantine period, if no pathogen is detected. (9) In the event of detection of any relevant pathogen, the sample shall be sent to Indian Council of Agricultural Research- Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture as referral lab for validation/confirmation. (10) In case of confirmation, the unit operator shall destruct the infected stock duly following the appropriate method and report to the Authority. 8. Broodstock Maintenance.- (1) The broodstock shall be preferably reared in tanks having adequate space for its movement. (2) Salinity, temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, total ammonia, and nitrite shall be maintained as per water quality parameters as specified in the para 4 of the Guidelines for regulating coastal aquaculture and have to be monitored regularly. (3) Broodstock shall be fed with specific pathogen free Polychaete, frozen squid and formulated maturation feed. (4) A flow through system or water recirculatory system may be maintained for better water quality. (5) Maturation section shall be isolated with dark and noise free environment to simulate natural conditions for successful spawning. 9. Seed production and sale.- (1) Prohibited Pharmacologically active substances and antimicrobial agents as specified under clause (c) of sub-rule (1) of rule 18 of the said rules shall not be used in the seed production. (2) Nauplii shall be sold only to the hatcheries permitted by the Authority to rear the seed of indigenous shrimp following biosecurity protocols as specified in para 2 of these guidelines. (3) Hatcheries rearing nauplii to the post-larvae stage for sale shall maintain record of the number of nauplii received and the post-larvae produced and sold and submit in their quarterly compliance reports in Form J-1 to the Authority on a regular basis, failing which the hatcheries shall be derecognised to receive nauplii in future. (4) Post-larvae shall be sold only to the farmers who have registered with the Authority specifically for the culture of indigenous species. (5) A copy of the certificate of registration issued by the Authority shall be retained by the hatchery operator for inspection. (6) The detailed record of the seed production as well as sale including the name and address of the buyer or farmer shall he maintained. 10. Disease reporting and record maintenance.- (1) Any disease outbreak in the hatchery shall be reported immediately to the Authority. (2) The hatcheries shall maintain a record of the procurement of broodstock with details of source, quantity procured, the number of mortality, eggs produced, nauplii produced, post-larvae produced, post-larvae sold, name and address of the farmer to whom sold, date and number of the registration and permission certificate issued by the Authority and quarterly compliance report shall be submitted to the Authority in Form J-1 of these guidelines. 11. Inspection.- A person authorised by the Authority shall periodically visit and check the status of the broodstock, the seed production and sale. 12. Bank guarantee.- The approved hatcheries shall pay rupees fifty thousand towards monitoring fee and deposit a bank guarantee for two lakh rupees in favour of the Coastal Aquaculture Authority in accordance with the said rules, to ensure compliance with these guidelines and in the event of any violation, the bank guarantee shall be invoked. PART II Norms and Regulations for Approval and Operation of Farms 1. Eligibility criteria for farms.- (1) Aquaculture farmers shall submit an application in Form I of the said rules to the Sub Divisional Level Committee or District Level Committee concerned duly enclosing therewith the required documents as specified in the Schedule II of the said rules and payment of registration fee as specified in the Schedule I of the said rules for registration of farms of indigenous shrimp in accordance with the procedure laid down in rule 9 of the said rules. (2) The inspection team authorised by the Authority shall inspect the farm as per the procedure laid down in rule 10 of the said rules and based on its recommendation regarding the suitability of the facility for farming of indigenous shrimp, applications shall be processed by the Secretary of the Authority, for consideration of the Authority for registering the farms for farming of indigenous shrimp. (3) Farms shall establish the biosecurity measures such as fencing, reservoir ponds for water treatment, bird-scare, separate implements for each of the ponds etc., and be managed by personnel who are trained or experienced in the management of biosecurity measures. 2. Water discharge protocols.- (1) In case of any outbreak of disease, distress harvesting shall only be done through netting and the water shall be chlorinated and dechlorinated before release into drainage system. (2) Wastewater shall be retained in the Effluent Treatment System for a minimum period of two days and in any case of any outbreak of disease, disinfection protocols shall be followed in the Effluent Treatment System before discharging into the drainage system. (3) Farms which follow Zero Water Exchange system of farming may also take up shrimp farming with indigenous species. 3. Biosecurity considerations.- (1) Farms approved for culture of indigenous shrimp shall not be permitted for simultaneous farming of Specific Pathogen Free species in the same farm. (2) For shifting culture from one species to another, dry out period shall be maintained during pond preparation in accordance with the norms issued by the Authority for this purpose from time to time. 4. Norms for culture of indigenous shrimp.- The following norms shall be applied for culture of indigenous shrimp, namely:- (1) Tested and certified seed shall be procured only from hatcheries authorised for production of indigenous shrimp. (2) Stocking densities shall not exceed 60 no. / m2 incase of P. indicus and 30 no/m2 for all other indigenous species for conventional earthen pond systems. (3) Strict compliance with the wastewater standards shall be mandatory requirement and inspection team authorised by the Authority in each case shall monitor the quality of wastewater as per the procedure laid down in the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Regulations, 2008. (4) Prohibited pharmacologically active substances and antimicrobial agents as specified in clause (c) of sub-rule (1) of rules 18 of the said rules shall not be used. 5. Record maintenance at farms.- (1) The farmers shall maintain a detailed record of the name and address of the hatchery from where they procured the seed, including quantity procured, number and date of the valid registration of the hatchery. (2) The farmers shall record the quantity of shrimp produced, sold, and the name and address of the processor or representative or agent to whom sold. (3) The farm record shall be made available to the inspection team authorised by the Authority during inspection. 6. Penalty for violation shall be in accordance with the said Act and rules made thereunder. Form J-1 [See Part-I, paragraph 9 (3) and 10 (2)] Format for quarterly compliance report from hatcheries The report shall contain the following information, namely:- 1. Name and Address of the hatchery 2. Date and number of certificate of registration 3. Number of broodstock procured, males and females 4. Source of the broodstock 5. Transport mortality 6. Quarantine mortality 7. Total number of spawning's 8. Total number of eggs produced 9. Total number of nauplii produced 10. Total number of post larvae produced 11. Report on general aquatic health monitoring and any unusual mortality 12. Total number of post larvae sold to the farmers 13. Details of the farmers to whom sold (shall include information on the name, address, registration number) and copy of the registration certificate for culturing of indigenous shrimp issued by Coastal Aquaculture Authority. [F. No. j-1903336/2/2024-DOF (E-23648)] NEETU KUMARI PRASAD, Jt.Secy. Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi-110064 and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi-110054. GORAKHA Digitally signed by GORAKHA NATH YADAVA NATH YADAVA Date: 2025.07.02 14:37:48 +05'30'

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