Quantifying the Health of Shrimp Culture Ponds in Indian Sundarbans

In West Bengal, especially in the southern districts, aquaculture is dominated by prawn culture. So during the three months of culture period, from March to June 2006, the water quality was monitored in ten shrimp ponds distributed in 10 different zones. To analyze the present status, Aquatic Health Index (AHI) was evaluated by using the data of the selected ponds. The lower value of the index reflects the deteriorated condition of the culture ponds due to poor quality of source water, whereas the congenial environment for shrimp culture is indicated by higher index values. The lower value of AHI at Stn 1, Stn 8, Stn 5 and Stn 2 may be attributed to the proximity of these stations to Kulti lock gate, which receives huge quantum of untreated sewage and wastewater from the city of Kolkata. Stn 10, Stn 9 and Stn 6 offer a favorable water quality environment for shrimp culture being far away from the city and situated within mangrove-dominated Indian Sundarbans. Moreover, the use of the formulated feed in these ponds has upgraded the water quality parameters of the ponds, which has been reflected through higher AHI values.