Guidelines for Regulating Hatcheries and Farms for Seed Production and culture of Specific Pathogen Free Litopenaeus vannamei

2069 GI/202 4 (1) EXTRAORDINARY PART II —Section 3 —Sub-section ( ii) PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY No. 1391] NEW DELHI, SATURDAY , MARCH 1 6, 2024 /PHALGUNA 26, 1945 CG-DL-E-18032024-253175 MINISTRY OF FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING (Department of Fisheries ) NOTIFICATION New Delh i, the 15th March , 2024 S.O. 1457(E).—In pursuance of section 3 of the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act, 2005 (24 of 2005), read with clause (b) of rule 3 of the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Rules, 2024, the Central Government hereb y notifies the follow ing guidelines, namely: - 1. Short title and commencement. – (1) These guidelines may be called the Guidelines for Regulating Hatcheries and Farms for seed production and culture of Sp ecific Pathogen Free Litopenaeus vannamei. (2) They shall come i nto force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. Guidelines for Regulating Hatcheries and Farms for Seed Production and culture of Specific Pathogen Free Litopenaeus vannamei PART I Safeguards and regulations for operation of hatcher ies 1. C riteria for application to breed L. vannamei . - (1) Hatcheri es engaged or intending to be engaged in seed production having the required biosecurity facilities as specified by the Authority shall be eligible to apply for registration under the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act, 2005 (24 of 2005) and the rules frame d thereunder and for permission to import specific pathogen free broodstock of L. vannamei or specific pathogen free juveniles of L. vannamei (up to 10 g size) for rearing to adult broodstock and to produce and sell post larvae of L. vannamei. (2) The ha tchery operator shall submit application in prescribed format to the Authority duly enclosing required documents and payment of registration fee of Rs. 10,000/ - (Rupees ten thousand) for registration of hatchery in accordance with the procedure laid down i n rule 9 of the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Rule, 2024. (3) Approval of the hatchery for rearing L. vannamei shall be given by the Authority after due inspection of the hatchery facilities by a team constituted by the Authority for this purpose. (4) Th e hatchery facilities shall have strict biosecurity control through physical separation or isolation of the dif ferent 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 secu rity. 2. Sanitary requirement. - (1) Entrance 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 pers on including staff shall be compulsorily through shower and changing room to enable them to take shower and changing into working clothes and boots before entering into faciltiy 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), feet (footbaths con taining hypochlorite solution at >50 ppm active ingredient), and hands [bottles containing iodine -PVP (20 ppm and / or 70% alcohol)] to be used upon entering and exiting the unit. 3. Water intake. - (1) Each functional unit of the hatchery shall have inde pendent 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 t he 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 reser voir or settling tank. (3) After primary disinfection by chlorination or ozonation or such other appropriate disinfectants, and after settlement, t he water shall be filtered again with a finer filter and then disinfected using ultraviolet light or ozone. (4) The water supply system may include use of activated carbon filters, the addition of ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid and temperature and sa linity regulation. 4. Water treatment and discharge of wastewater. - (1) The discharged water from the hatc hery shall be held temporarily and treated with hypochlorite solution (>20 ppm active chlorine for not less than sixty minutes) or other effective di sinfectant prior to discharge. (2) The seawater to be used in the facility shall be delivered into a stora ge tank where it will be treated with hypochlorite solution (20 ppm active ingredient for not less than thirty minutes) followed by sodium thiosulpha te (1 ppm for every ppm of residual chlorine) and strong aeration. (3) No wastewater shall be released out of the hatchery without chlorination and dechlorination, so as to prevent the escape of the larvae into the natural waters and Effluent Treatment Sys tem shall be designed to include this provision. 5. Disinfection of implements. - (1) Used containers and hoses must be washed and disinfected with hypochlorite solution (20 ppm) before further use. (2) Each broodstock holding tank shall have, - (i) a se parate set of implements which must be clearly marked and placed near the tanks; and (ii) facilities for disinfection of all the implements at the end of each day’s use. 6. Quarantine. - The quarantine procedure shall be as specified in the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Animal Husba ndry, Dairying and Fisheries published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, sub -section (ii), vide notification No. S.O. 2482(E), dated the 15th Oct ober, 2008, issued under sub -section (1) of section 3 of the Livestock Importation Ac t, 1898 (9 of 1898). 7. Broodstock in hatchery. - (1) Only specific pathogen free broodstock cleared through the quarantine shall be used in the hatchery for seed product ion. (2) Use of pond -reared broodstock is strictly prohibited. (3) Hatcheries invo lved in L. vannamei seed production shall not use any other species within the hatchery premises. 8. Seed production and sale. - (1) Nauplii shall be sold only to the hatc heries permitted by the Authority to rear the seed of specific pathogen free L. vann amei with due biosecurity protocols. (2) 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 - B-I the Authority on a regular basis, failing which the hatcheries shall be derecognised to receive nauplii in future. (3) Post -larvae shall be sold only to the farmers wh o have registered with the Authority specifically for the culture of L. vannamei. (4) A copy of the certificate of registration issued by the Authority shall be retained by the hatchery operator for inspection. (5) The detailed record of the seed produc tion as well as sale including the name and address of the buyer or farmer shall he maintained. 9. Disease reporting and record maintenance. - (1) Any disease outbreak in the hatchery shall be reported immediately to the Authority. (2) The hatcheries sha ll maintain a record of the imported broodstock with details of source, qua ntity imported, 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 report these in their quarterly compliance report to be submitted to the Authority in Form -B-I of these Guidelines. 10. Inspection. - A person authorised by the Authority shall periodica lly visit and check the status of the broodstock, the seed production and s ale. 11. Bank Guarantee. - The approved hatcheries shall pay rupees fifty thousand towards monitoring fee and deposit a bank guarantee for five lakh rupees in favour of the Coasta l Aquaculture Authority in accordance with the Coastal Aquaculture Authorit y Rules, 2024, 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 Ope ration of Farms 1. Eligibility criteria for farms. - (1) Aquaculture farmer s registered with the Authority, shall submit a separate application for permission for farming L. vannamei: (2) The inspection team authorised by the Authority shall inspect the farm and based on its recommendation regarding the suitability of the faci lity for farming of L. vannamei , applications shall be processed by the Secretary of the Authority, for consideration of the Authority for issuing permission to farms for farming of L. vannamei . (3) Farms shall establish adequate biosecurity measures incl uding fencing, reservoirs, bird -scare, separate implements for each of the ponds etc., and be managed by personnel who are trained or experienced in management of biosecurity measure s. (4) Farms irrespective of their size shall have an Effluent Treatment System which is able to handle the wastewater let off during harvest. (5) Harvesting shall be sequential depending on the size of the Effluent Treatment System and the quality of t he wastewater shall conform to the standards prescribed under the Guidelin es. 2. Water discharge protocols. -(1) In case of any outbreak of disease, distress harvesting may only be done through netting and the water shall be chlorinated and dechlorinated b efore release into drainage system. (2) Wastewater shall be retained in the Effluent Treatment System for a minimum period of two days. (3) Farms which follow Zero Water Exchange system of farming may also take up L. vannamei farming. 3. Biosecurity co nsiderations. -(1) Culture of specific pathogen free L. vann amei shall not be permitted if the neighbouring farms are culturing native species, which are non -specific pathogen free, since L. vannamei is susceptible for all the viral pathogens reported in Penaeus monodon in India. (2) Farms approved for L. vannamei culture shall not be permitted for simultaneous farming of shellfish and finfish species in the same farm. (3) For shifting culture from one species to another, adequate 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 L. vannamei .-(1) Tested and certified seed shall be procured only from hatcheries authorised for import of the L. vannamei broodstock or production of L. vannamei seed. (2) Stocking densities shall not exceed 60 no. / m2 for conventional earthen pond systems (3) Strict compliance with the wastewater standards shall be mandatory requirement and inspection tea m authorised by the Authority in each case shall monitor t he quality of wastewater as per the procedure laid down in the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Regulations, 2008. 5. Record maintenance at farms. -(1) The farmers shall maintain a detailed record of t he name and address of the hatchery from where they procur ed 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 and the record shall be made available to the inspection team authorised by the Authority, during inspection. 6. Destruction of unauthorised stock. -If any unauthorised seed production or culture of L. vannamei is noticed during the inspection of farms or hatcheries by the inspection team of the Authority, the inspection team may confiscate, dispose of or destroy the stock, as it thinks fit. Form B -I [See Part -I, 8 (2) and 9(2)] Format for Quarterly Compliance Report from Hatcheries The report shall contain the following information: 1. Name and Address 2. Date and number of certificate of registration and permission to import 3. Number of broodstock imported, males and females 4. Transport mortality 5. Quara ntine mortality 6. Total number of spawning’s 7. Total number of eggs produced 8. Total number of nauplii produced 9. Total number of post -larvae produced 10. Report on general aquatic health monitoring and any unusual mortality 11. Total number of post -larvae sold to t he farmers 12. Details of the farmers to whom sold (shall include information on the name, address, registration number) and copy of the permission letter for culturing L. vannamei issued by Coastal Aquaculture Authority. Place: Signature Date: Name of the authori sed signatory [F. No. J-1903336/2/2 024-DOF (E -23648) ] NEETU KUMARI PRASAD , Jt. Secy. Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring R oad, Mayapuri, New Delhi -110064 and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi -110054.