Bio-Floc is an Eco-friendly culture system.Environmental impact reduces.Efficiently improves land and water use

1. BIO FLOC FISHING FARMING IN INDIA ADVANTAGE
AND DISADVANTAGES
Fishery is one of the biggest source of food in this world. Fishery is a word described for raising
and harvesting fish for consumption as food. There is a big channel of resources and people
involved in raising and harvesting fish in order to sustain the food required in the world. Fishing
is therefore one of the biggest source of employment in the world. As of 2016, fish production
was at all-time high which was calculated to be 171 million tons. Out of the number, 88% of the
production was consumed directly by the humans.
What is Biofloc Technology?
Biofloc technology basically aims at converting the toxic waste material generated within the
aquatic water into protein rich food for the aquatic life. Secondly, biofloc technology aims at
maintain a healthy atmosphere in the water by regulating the carbon-nitrogen cycle within the
water and ensures that the bio-chemical speeds up which makes the water quality optimum for
the successful growth of aquatic life. Lastly, this method also accelerates the growth of bacteria,
fungus and single cell organisms which initiated the bio-chemical cycle.

2. High stocking density and the rearing of the aquatic lives requires fine treatment of waste water
which improves the living standard of the aquatic living beings which indeed ensures a healthy
and prosperous growth of aquatic animals such as the fish. The nitrogenous waste can be turned
into protein rich feed for the aquatic animals which amounts 60% of the production cost.
For the whole process maintaining of C: N ration is important which is done by enriching
carbohydrate sources such as the molasses. The water quality is improved by increasing the
production of bacteria, fungus and single cell organisms. These organisms break downs the
nitrogen and carbohydrates similar to as a bio reactor and turns them into feed for the aquatic
animals. Using the same method quality of water is also improved.
The Problem in the Fishing Industry:-
With the rising population and demand for food fishing sector got into huge stress. The demand
of fishes went up while the production still followed the old methods of fishing which looked
redundant in front of the demand. The old method was simple like creating a pond or similar
water body and then raising fish while providing all the required supplements. Since this method
was natural hence the growth of fishes took place at normal rate thus unable to meet the
demand.
The problem worried the members of industry and that is when new methods for fishing were
adopted in order to meet the demand. While raising the fish the water quality worsened which
also impacted the production. One common reason was that only limited number of fishes could
be raised in a given water body. On increasing the density of fishes in the water the oxygen level
depleted and the quality of water also worsened thus hampering the production.
Two factors namely the fall in oxygen level and the water waste created by the aquatic animals
were matter of concern. This is still manageable in rivers and sea but a stagnant water body had
to face huge problems. Manual cleaning of the pond was thus used and increasing the oxygen
level was adopted to meet the oxygen level but managing the water waste and cleaning turn out
to be expensive. Biofloc method thus was invented and implemented to solve both the problems.
Biofloc Technology a Preferable Choice:-

3. Many experiments were conducted in order to evaluate whether the biofloc technology was good
enough to be implemented. Several parameters were evolved and tests were conducted to
measure the water quality and oxygen level of the water. It was found that biofloc method was
effective in maintaining the required oxygen level, mineral quality, alkaline nature, PH level, etc.
It was found that using biofloc technology fishes reached their required average size within 30
days while without biofloc method it took 45 days for fishes to reach their average size. Other
researches were also conducted in order to determine the production cost using biofloc
technology and clear water system. It was found that the production cost using biofloc
technology was 20-30% higher than that of traditional fresh water method.
But the total profit generated using biofloc technology was 23% higher than the profit generated
using fresh water method. Thus the net profit generated was also higher than the fresh water
method. It was proved that biofloc technology not only increases the production, reduces the
time required but also increases the net profit. A very influencing reason to adopt the biofloc
technology into usage.
Benefits of Biofloc Technology Culture System:-
With the results allover it is evident that biofloc technology is better in use and has very less bad
impact on the fishery sector in comparison to any human made method. Biofloc technology has
not only risen the profits but also has served better for the aquatic life. Here are some of the
benefits of biofloc technology.
 Biofloc technology is an eco-friendly method of rearing fish. It is least harmful to the
environment, the aquatic life and the consumers.
 It reduced environmental impact as it uses the water waste into useful protein rich
feed for the aquatic life thus reducing the generation of waste and its management
cost
 It also improves the land and water use efficiency as it increases the density of fishes
in the water body thus accommodating more fishes in the limited water space. Since
there will be less space required to accommodate more fishes the use of land will also
reduce thus further reducing the cost of production.
 Limited or zero water exchange reduced the consumption of water which is also very
tough to manage at water scarce places.

4.  It increases the productivity of fishery products as it ensures higher survival rate,
improves growth performance and feed conversion in the aquatic world.
 It also ensure higher biosecurity
 It helps in reduction of water pollution which is a big problem in the aquatic life. It
also reduces the risk of rising pathogens and their spread
 Most importantly it is cost effective and doesn’t requires higher production cost but a
minimal given it also increases the net profit.
 It reduces the cost required to feed the aquatic animals by converting the wastes into
protein rich feed.
Production of fishery products has risen using this method as it is efficient on all the aspects of
fish rearing. The rise in net profits is an example how using this method is beneficial to the
fishing industry. It has also proved successful on the environmental aspect as it has reduced the
generation of water waste by efficiently converting the waste into protein rich feed for the fishes.
Lastly, it has also increased the water quality standard of the water bodies that are used to rear
fishes. Overall, biofloc technology has some very good advantages over any other methods of
rearing fish.
Disadvantages of using Biofloc Technology:-
There are also some disadvantages of using this method. They are:
 Increases the energy requirement for aeration and mixing.
 Using this method it has been observed that it reduced the response time as water
respiration rates got elevated
 There is startup period required which is not the case in fresh water methods
 Alkalinity supplementation is required unlike the fresh water method.
 Biofloc method increases the accumulation of nitrate thus increases the pollution
potential
 For sunlight exposed systems it can be harmful as it may result in inconsistent and
seasonal performance impacting the production
 Since the method is a bit artificial it requires lots of caring and managing which is not
the case in fresh water method. Though the production maybe high but the quality of
product generated may not be satisfying.

5. Biofloc technology is at the forefront of fish production. Many people who have invested in this
method have made huge revenue from it as it has improved production and profit. It has also
reduced the time required in raising the fish which means that within a fixed time fishes can be
raised many a times. Thus, biofloc technology is profitable in raising and rearing fish.