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6 Enhancing Rural Farmer Income through Fish Production113activities are also made collectively. In most instances, aquaculture managementcommittees (AMCs) are established among the FOs, and strategies for stocking,guarding, and harvesting are decided. The members arrive at agreements on sharingof CBF profit between the fish farmers and agricultural farmers. Levy paid by AMC(generally, about 5% of the profit) to FOs is often used for maintenance of thevillage reservoir.The costs involved in CBF and financial benefits derived were evaluated in 23village reservoirs, where reliable information on stocking, total harvest, and marketvalues of fish could be gathered (Mr. M.G. Kularatne, pers. comm.). The cost offingerlings was estimated from the unit price of Rs. 1.50 per fingerling (Rs. 100 = 1US$), which has been fixed by NAQDA (present price of a fingerling is Rs. 2.00).Other costs include that of packing, transport, aquaculture license fee, cost ofguarding stocked fish, and hiring seine nets for harvesting. Also, the levy (generally,about 5% of profit) paid to the FO of the reservoir by the AMC was also consideredas part of the production cost, because this amount is paid by AMC to FO from theirearnings. The group size of AMC varies between 5 and 25, but mostly less than tenmembers. The net profit (= value of harvest − total cost) is shared equally amongthe members of the AMC.The CBF harvest varied widely in the 23 village reservoirs (Table 6.3 ). It shouldbe noted that some of the reservoirs are connected to seasonal or perennial streams,so that natural recruitment of various fish species also occurs. The fish harvests insome reservoirs therefore consisted of stocked fish and naturally recruited fish. As inmany reservoirs, 10% of the stocked fish was O. niloticus, and their offsprings alsocontributed to the final CBF harvest. High yields in reservoirs where less than 4,000fingerlings were stocked (Table 6.3 ) might be due to the contribution of non-stockedfish and reproduction of stocked tilapias, to the CBF harvest. The price of fish at theharvesting site ranged from Rs. 30 to Rs. 75 per kg. From every harvest, villagerswere provided with fish for home consumption, free-of-charge, and this portion of theharvest were significant and ranged from 3 to 47% of the total. The net profit (bothfor commercial harvest and total harvest), except in two village reservoirs, wherethere was a financial loss owing to low survival and recovery rates of the stocked fish,ranged from Rs. 47,372 to Rs. 729,339 (Rs. 100 = US$ 1). The net profit in 17 reservoirswas above Rs. 100,000 (Table 6.3 ). The financial loss in the two reservoirs wassolely owing to the high mortality of the stocked fish as a result of heavy drawdownof the reservoir water level. The most common price of fish at harvesting point wasRs. 30–40 per kg. In a few cases, the prices were higher, up to Rs. 70, especiallywhere the catches were low (Fig. 6.4 ), but the relationship between the farm-gateprice and harvest levels was not significant ( p > 0.05). Although there were price differencesbetween the villages, the price did not appear to influence the choice ofreservoirs for CBF. The income generated from CBF is essentially dependent on thebiological productivity of each reservoir and the development of good managementpractices to enhance recovery rates of the stocked fish.On an average, 86% of the CBF harvest is sold at distant markets. An averageproportion of about 13% of the harvest is taken by villagers during harvesting. Themobile retailers also sell about 1% of the total harvest within the village (Fig. 6.5 ).