Propagation Planning and Hatchery Construction for Bunnei (Barbus Sharpeyi, Gunther 1874) in Basra-Iraq

Bunnei is one of the most important species in the Southern Iraqi marshes and Tigris-Euphrates basin. Their populations declined dramatically due to the negative effect of the marsh drainage program which had started in 1992. The experience of three successive seasons of artificial breeding of Bunnei, as well as all the available data, is used in this article to aid successful planning for hatchery construction and propagation processes. Biological data were arranged in basic desk data table, to be used for the planning and hatchery construction. All the hatchery operation steps for the induced spawning of Bunnei have been shown as a function of time. It was found that we need nine days to complete the production of one batch of first feeding larvae, with four days time lag between two successive batches, so that three batches of larvae could be produced each seventeen days for the same group of hatching jars. During each spawning season of Bunnei, which is extended for 45 days, ten batches from each set of production equipments could be selected. For the planning of hatchery equipments, the calculations showed that from total weight of 30kg female Bunnei it can produce 0.61 million first feeding fry. For such production sixteen pieces of hatching jars (10-L) and eight larval rearing tanks (850-L) are needed. All the important parameters for the production of 30,000,000 first feeding larvae were calculated, which will comprise a base line study for further improvements.