Ranching in river Ganga: A protocol of practices for indigenous carps germplasm enhancement and conservation in river

River ranching of fish species is one of the managerial techniques to conserve the native germplasm in the open waters. In the recent years most of the rivers worldwide including the river Ganga have been facing serious pressure including water abstraction, water obstruction, pollution and climate change. In this backdrop, river ranching of the identified indigenous carp species through artificial breeding of native brooders of Labeo catla (Catla), Labeo rohita (Rohu), Cirrhinus mrigala (Mrigal) and Labeo calbasu (Calbasu) were carried out in Ganga. The seeds of these species were raised to more than 100mm size before ranching to reduce the chances of natural mortality. More than 30 lakh fingerlings were ranched at different sites of the middle (Pryagraj to Farakka) and lower stretches (Farakka to Howrah) of river Ganga with the objective to enhance the IMC population keeping the native germplasm unpolluted. This study describes a protocol of river ranching of fish seeds through artificial breeding of wild fish stocks, nursery managements and release and may be suitable for other rivers also. Key words River Ganga; Conservation; Ranching; IMC; NMCG