Pisciculturist - How to become a Pisciculturist

A Pisciculturist is a Professional who is involved in the breeding of fish in an organized and scientific manner. There was a time when rearing of fish was considered as a part time additional work along with agriculture and other allied activities. At that time fishery was not taken as a full-fledged profession. In today scenario when due to increasing population  on the earth thereby depleting land resources there is a great need of water sources for the food and other consumables for the man kind from the sea Thus there is great need of the professionals who could restore the existing source and develop the new methods by using the fisheries sciences.

The fast developing fishery industry provides employment not only to the traditional fishermen, but also to the highly skilled personnel engaged in the scientific breeding and management of fisheries. The scope in the field of fishery science is increasing with the development of aquaculture. Because of the country's expansive in land natural water resources, dynamic entrepreneurial skills, this profession is advantageous to the Indian economy too.

Young people with desire and capacity for hard work and with very little investment can get both money and satisfaction in   this ever expending profession involving new and scientific methods. But to adopt this profession in right sense and excel one need to  have special  non-conventional type of education along with aptitude to live in aquatic surrounding for long times.

 
To be a Pisciculturist one has to undergo one or more of the following Courses

1. 4 year degree course B.F.Sc

Eligibility

1. Educational Qualification
Candidates who wish to apply for Bachelor of Fisheries Science bachelor’s degree  should have passed 10+2 or equivalent examination with biology as the of the  main subjects relevant subjects  preferably with 50% marks.

Step 1

Interested candidate has to appear in an all India level common entrance test conducted by ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research), New Delhi.
However some colleges/universities also give admission on the basis of % of marks obtained in the qualifying examinations.

Step 2

After completing B.F. Sc., one can take M.F.Sc. which is of 2 year duration. (Masters of Fisheries Science) After getting a professional degree in Fisheries Science, one can goes into research- oriented activities also.

Eligibility

1. Educational Qualification
To get admission to above Master’s level degree course students should have passed Bachelors courses in relevant topics with at least 50% marks in aggregate.

Step 1

Interested candidate has to appear in an entrance tests conducted by the various Universities providing 2-3 years of Master’s degree courses

However some universities also give admission on the basis of % of marks obtained in the qualifying class

 
Step 2

After completing this 2 years of course in which one has to go through all the major aspects of Fishery Science like capture, culture and post harvest technology.   

After completion of the Education a Fishery Culturist one can work for a variety of Governmental and non-Governmental organization.

Area of Scope and remuneration for the persons adopting this career.

Enormous employment opportunities are available for Pisciculturist as in those there where there is ample of water Pisciculturist can earn nearly 2 lakhs rupees per annum from an acre of land. Besides if need be arise the professionals of these field can also associate themselves with private as well as public sector organisations. Like the government sector, a fisheries graduate can apply for the post of Assistant Fisheries Development Officer (AFDO)/ Fisheries Extension Officer (FEO) and District Fisheries Development Officer.

Remunerations and Monetary Gains

As far as remunerations of a Pisciculturist are concerned one can get anything between 2,00,000 to 2,50,000 from an acre of land per year. Those working with private or government sector organization can earn as good as 25,000 per month and more. However it depends upon the efforts of an individual.