Jammu : Principal Secretary, Animal & Sheep Husbandry and Fisheries Department, Navin Kumar Choudhary Thursday chaired a meeting of senior officers of the Fisheries Department to review its working.
The meeting discussed the establishment of Re-Circulatory Aquaculture System (RAS) technology in Trout Culture, continuation of existing schemes in private sector with enhancement of subsidy basis and enhancement of fish production in River Jhelum besides other issues.
It was given out in the meeting that during the last three decades massive infrastructure in the shape of Hatcheries, Fish Farms, Fish Rearing Units, Laboratories etc have been established, besides the establishment of Mega Aquarium at Bagh-e-Bahu, Asia’s largest Trout Fish Farming Project Kokernag, Prestigious Trout Fish Feed Mill at Manasbal as well as a hygienic Fish Market at Jammu.
Director, Fisheries J&K, M A Mir briefed the Principal Secretary about the steps that have been taken for further increasing fish production in Jammu and Kashmir besides the physical and financial progress of the department. He said the Jammu and Kashmir being self-sufficient in Trout seed also caters to the demand of North-eastern states of the country and the trout seed has also been supplied to the neighbouring countries.
He also informed that a number of new central sponsored schemes viz Blue Revolution, RKVY, ATMA etc are being implemented by the department for the propagation of Fish Farming in Government as well as in private sector. Till date, 1075 carp rearing units and 544 Trout Rearing units have been established in the private sector and 19 Carp Fish Farms and 51 Trout Fish Rearing Units/Hatcheries, Aquaria, Recreational centres, Marking outlets, Trout Beats have been established under government sector in various districts of Jammu and Kashmir.
It was also discussed that one of the major challenges is to prioritise and reconcile the competing user rights for water resources (irrigation, navigation, fishing, domestic and industrial use) across the Jammu and Kashmir and crop insurance scheme should be extended to the Fish Farmers at par with agriculture in order to guard their losses from disease outbreak, natural calamities, poaching and wilful destruction of the crop etc.
The Principal Secretary directed the concerned authorities to coordinate with each other to achieve the goals of the Fisheries department and to take necessary steps for doubling the income of farmers.
He also directed the concerned authorities to cover all fish farmers under the KCC schemes. The District Incharge Officer (DIO) were directed to find out water bodies and fish farms working in their respective areas and its detailed report be submitted to the concerned quarter at an earliest.
The Principal Secretary also directed for uploading a detailed list of beneficiary farmers who have benefitted under various centrally sponsored schemes of Fisheries department. He also stressed upon them to ensure equal benefit be provided to farmers of both divisions of Jammu and Kashmir.
Among others, Director Finance Fisheries, Satnam Singh, Director Planning Fisheries, Abdul Gani Malik, Additional Secretary Fisheries, Mohammad Latief, Deputy Secretary, Fisheries, Subash Chander Raina and other senior officers were also present in the meeting.
