CULTURE
 
Edible crabs occur in marine, estuarine backwaters and freshwater environments. The main species supporting commercial fishery are Scylla serrata, Portunus pelagicus, P. sangainolentus, and Charybdis. spp. At present no commercial crab culture has been practised in India and large scale exploitation of crabs is entirely based on natural resources.  Some laboratory work on Scylla serrata, which forms the major crab fishery is in progress in Kerrala and Tamil Nadu.

S. serrata is essentially a salt water species, but can survive in freshwater also. Its large size and early maturity makes this species very suitable for culture. However, S. serrata is not being cultured on a commercial scale in India at the moment. Available information on the experimental culture of S.serrata in India indicates an average monthly growth of 9 mm / 10 gm in laboratory, 11 mm / 19 gm in cages and 14 mm /29 gm in ponds. The survival rate ranges from 28 to 86 %. The estimated production rate is 494-600 kg/ha in monoculture and 690 kg/ha in polyculture with milkfish and mulet (Srinivasagam and Kathirvel, 1992).

It may be concluded that the culture of crabs has a good potential in India because of the abundance of edible species all along Indian coastline, their fast growth rate and short life history. However,sufficient data is not available to assess the economic viability of the mud crab culture.

In this context, further research and development on S. serrata and other commercially important crab species are needed to assess the economic viability of its culture