Mangalore: Aquarists Turned Entrepreneurs—Dr Ashwin Rai, Ronald D’Souza
 
Pics: Prajwal Ukkuda
Daijiworld Media Network—Mangalore (TU/CN)
 
Mangalore, Dec 31: The hobby of fish-keeping is a multi-million dollar industry. According to sources, there are around 60 million aquarists in the world. In the United States, aquarium-keeping is the second-most popular hobby after stamp-collecting.
 
‘It is acknowledged by hobbyists, the trade, and the government, that the aquarium hobby and the culture of ornamental and commercial fish in India has not yet reached its full potential and there is plenty of scope for further development, both within the country and as an export business. India has the climate, the land, and plenty of enterprising people to develop a fish breeding and export trade to match that of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and China, where ornamental fish are big business…’- claims the Aquarists Society of Karnataka.
 

There is a possibility that this might be foretelling what the future has in store. The success story of two boys from the city tells the tale of a passion for fish-keeping, which has led to their establishing the largest aquarium breeding centre in the state.
 
Fisheries post graduates and childhood buddies Dr Ashwin Rai, Maroli, and Ronlad D’Souza, Pumpwell, dreamt of running their own aquarium fish breeding centre in the city during their student years at St Aloysius School. Today, the duo own ‘Aquatic Biosystems’, the first and the largest ornamental fish breeding centre in the state. It has existed for the past one and a half years at Bondanthila House near Vamanjoor.
 
Aquatic Biosystems is spread over one and a half acres of land. This is the fourth fish breeding centre in Karnataka after Kunigal, Theerthahalli, and Mysore.

“Only 50 per cent of our project has been completed. We have some 40 species in the centre and breed an average of 25,000 ornamental fish every month”, says Dr Rai.

He received his PhD degree from Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University in 2002 for conducting research in the subject of fish biology.

The breeder is quarantined for three months to make sure that it is one hundred per cent disease-free. The next stage is conditioning, explained Dr Rai. The centre has as many as 52 growing ponds, 200 breeding tanks, 20 nursery tanks, and 12 breeder tanks.
 
Ronald D’Souza said they have a plan to export aquarium fish to Gulf countries beginning sometime next year. “At present we have 72 clients all over India. Our biggest market is Bangalore. There are about 1,000 retail outlets in the state. Some 25 retail outlets exist in Mangalore. The numbers of hobbyists and shops have been increasing in the district. Angel fish and gold fish have a good market, and we also have rare species such as Discus and Tetra’, he added.