Potentials of fish production discussed

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jun 17 : Manipur has huge potential for adopting fish farming to meet rising domestic demand, said Fisheries Director H Balkrisna during an awareness workshop on "Role of media in promoting modern fish farming in Manipur" held at Mandha Island, Thanga, Bishnupur district today.
When Manipur has around 56,461 hectares of land that can be used for fish farming, it is done on only 18,000 hectares of the land, he said.
Speaking at the media awareness workshop organised by the Editors' Guild Manipur (EGM), Balkrisna said even as more and more farmers are increasingly adopting fish farming, the State production is not enough for domestic consumption, and hence is importing fishes from outside States.
He said the utilisation of the 38,000 hectares that is untouched will significantly increase fish production and make the State self reliant.
Using merely 70 percent of the potential land would meet the State's required fish production and cut import, he added.
While Manipur requires 52 MT of fish annually, the State produces only around 32 MT and the gap is filled by imports, Balkrisna said.
The import of fish costs a huge amount of money, and unfortunately these fishes sometimes are found contaminated with harmful chemicals, he added.
Increasing the fish production to meet the increasing demand needs concerted efforts of all stakeholders, he said.
Talking about the Loktak Lake, Balkrisna said years ago, the fishes from the lake were enough to meet domestic demand. But, now even after many private farms have emerged, the State isn't able to meet the demand and is importing fishes.
He identified excessive and unsustainable fishing as a reason for the fall in fish population in the Loktak Lake.
Fishes lay eggs in the months of June, July and August. Even as people have been advised against fishing during these months, they have ignored and continued fishing. This has adverse impacts on the fish population.
The failure to strictly enforce the ban on fishing during egg laying season, Balkrisna said, is because of the farmers' dependence on the Lake for their survival.
The farmers around the Lake can't shun fishing completely during the season as they depend on the Lake for sustenance, he said.
Enhancing the fish population in the Lake needs proper awareness among the farmers on sustainable fishing techniques. When they continue fishing in the lake, they should release fingerlings and small fishes, Balkrisna said.
He reiterated that sustainable fish farming practices, making use of all potential land may help the State become self-reliant in fish production.
T Raghu, a successful farmer from Keibul Lamjao said healthy fish farming in Loktak Lake may increase State's fish production to meet the domestic demand.
The embankment areas of the Loktak Lake may be converted into fish farms. Further, the operation of Ithai Dam may be regulated to increase fish population. Instead of closing the floodgate a whole year, it may be opened 3/4 times, he said.
He added that Government authorities including the Forest Department should ease restrictions for fish farming in potential areas.
Chandel District Fisheries Officer L Jiten said private fish farming started in Manipur during 1971-1972, and after the construction of the Ithai Dam and its operation, many varieties of fishes have become extinct.
He said even though the dam's flood gates can't be opened, a specialised fish ladder may be installed to allow movement of fishes like it is done in developed countries. This will help save and enhance the population of now rare and near extinct fishes.
As a part of the media awareness programme, the officials of the Fisheries Department and media persons visited the fish farm of T Raghu at Keibul Lamjao.
All Manipur Working Journalists Union (AMWJU) president Bijoy Kakchingtabam, MHJU president Peter Adani, Deputy Director of DIPR L Ashok Kumar and EGM president Khogendra Khomdram attended the media workshop.