First in the NER, Assam attains self-sufficiency in fish seed production

Guwahati: Another milestone achieved by Assam, as it becomes the first state in Northeast India to attain the self-sufficiency in fish seed production and supply to its neighbouring states.

The official release shows that Assam made a jump from 2.94 lakh MT in 2015-16 to 3.73 lakh MT in 2019-20 in fish production.

Assam is also the first state to breed of Magur (catfish) without sacrificing male. In the last season, the farm produced about 2 lakh seed (fry) and also, distributed in 15 districts of Asam. The breeding of the fish was carried out in Guwahati under Mr Raben Das, FDO cum Farm in-charge at the Fish Breeding cum Research Center, Regional Training Institute, Amranga.

The state has successfully cultured indigenous varieties of fishes like Pabda, Cirrhinus reba, Labeo bata in Recirculatory Aquaculture System (RAS). Biofloc technology has been successfully taken up by the state.

Technology like the Climate-resilient technology is introduced in the state for climate-resilient species like carp-mola and freshwater prawn.

Under the World Bank Aided programme, Assam is collaborating with international organisations for the implementation of various projects.

Through the College of Fisheries, Raha, - a Scientific Conservation Programme for Indigenous Fish (SCoPIF) -- 'Gene Bank for Indigenous Fish (GBIF)' is being implemented. It is estimated as a 5-year project with an estimated cost of 9.36 crore. This is being carried out under Assam Agricultural University from 2018-19.

In the last four years, the fishery department of the state has recruited around 99 Fishery Development Officers (FDOs), 29 Fishery Demonstrators (FDs), 32 Junior Engineers, 30 Junior Assistants, 2 Power Pump Operators and 11 Grade-IV staff.

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