Abstract

Biological Oxygen Demand in Controlling Fish Production and Cost of Supplementary Feed towards better Sustainability of a Sewage-Fed Aquaculture System: A Case Study of East Kolkata Wetlands, West Bengal, India

Susmita Mukherjee and Madhumati Dutta

East Kolkata Wetlands on the eastern part of Kolkata city, a Ramsar site is known for integrated resource recovery practices through single pond system, which is the largest and perhaps the oldest in the world. This resource recovery practice is facilitated by presence of different ecosystems at micro levels distributed through the whole wetland area. These ecosystems play a major role in converting waste to resource. The waste water of Kolkata city enters through a main canal and gets distributed throughout the area. The waste water with organic loading which is expressed as Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), is the source of fish food. These organic wastes are biodegradable, they degrade by natural process and release minerals, which through food chain enter into fishes’ system thus saving the cost of fish feed. Present study through primary data analysis provides an insight about the effect of BOD on fish production towards better sustainability of this system.