Catla Farming: A Production Guide

How catla (Labeo catla) is farmed: surface zooplankton feeding, fast growth, role in Indian major carp composite polyculture, pond fertilization, induced breeding and harvest.

Overview

Catla (Labeo catla, also referred to as Catla catla and Gibelion catla) is one of the three Indian major carps and a major South Asian food fish, native to the rivers and lakes of northern India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. A cyprinid, it is valued in pond polyculture as the surface-feeding component and as the fastest-growing of the major carps. Annual production has been reported in the range of a few million tonnes.

Biology and feeding

Catla is a surface and mid-water feeder with a large, upturned mouth and large gill rakers adapted to filtering zooplankton; young fish also take phytoplankton. It is a large fish, reaching up to about 182 cm and nearly 39 kg, with a characteristically large, broad head. Among the Indian major carps it grows the fastest, which makes it a key species for reaching marketable size quickly.

Role in composite polyculture

In Indian composite fish culture, catla occupies the surface and upper-column niche, feeding on zooplankton, while rohu feeds in the column and mrigal on the bottom, so the three share the pond without competing for the same food. FAO documents recommended catla : rohu : mrigal stocking ratios such as about 3:3:4 or 4:3:3, with exotic carps sometimes added, at combined densities of several thousand fingerlings per hectare.

Pond fertilization and feeding

Because catla depends on zooplankton, ponds are fertilized with organic manure and inorganic fertilizer to sustain a strong plankton bloom. Supplementary feed such as rice bran and oilcake is added to support all species. FAO composite-culture yields range from roughly 1,400 to over 4,000 kg per hectare per year for major carps, rising further in intensified systems with added exotic carps.

Reproduction and seed supply

Catla is a riverine spawner that breeds in flooded rivers during the monsoon and does not spawn naturally in still ponds, so hatcheries produce seed by induced breeding (hypophysation) of mature broodstock, historically successful only during the monsoon season. Fertilized eggs are incubated and the fry are nursed to fingerling size before stocking.

Growth and harvest

Catla grows quickly to a large size and is typically marketed at one to two kilograms, the size South Asian consumers prefer. It is harvested by seining or by draining the pond, usually alongside the other carps in the polyculture, after which the pond is prepared for restocking.