Crab Fattening: A Livelihood Option for the Coastal Women Self Help Groups

Aquaculture offers one of the best livelihood options for women especially in coastal areas. Crab fattening has emerged as a brackish water aquaculture alternative which has potential for a possible livelihood for the coastal women, due to the relative ease of culture techniques and reasonably good profit margin. A project sponsored by Dept. of Science and Technology was undertaken by Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA), Chennai at selected coastal villages of Tiruvalluvar and Kancheepuram districts of Tamil Nadu to demonstrate the efficiency of 'CIBA crab pellet feed' and the viability of crab fattening as an alternative livelihood for coastal fisherfolk. Two floating cages of 1m x 1m x 30 cm with 6 compartments each were used at the above project sites for crab fattening demonstration. Each cage was stocked with six water crabs. The crabs were fed with trash fish and 'CIBA crab pellet feed'. The pelleted feed was accepted very well by the crabs. There was an increase in the weight of the crabs by 9 to 10%. The community-based crab fattening project implemented for alternative livelihood purpose especially for coastal women Self Help Groups, has proved to be a great success not only in terms of generating extra income but also in creating an awareness among fisher folk about the value of brackishwater resources and the need for conservation and its sustainable utilization.