HARI, 13 Feb: “Arunachal Pradesh can turn into an exporter of inland coldwater fishes if we use the correct methodology and technology to harness the huge potential available in the state,” said AHV & Fisheries Minister Tage Taki here in Lower Subansiri district on Monday.
Addressing the inaugural function of a three-day programme titled ‘Training-cum-demonstration on harvest and post-harvest technologies’, being organised by Andhra Pradesh-based Visakhapatnam Research Centre at the government secondary school here, Taki said that Arunachal has “huge potential in inland coldwater fishery in Tawang, Bomdila, Mechukha and Ziro.
“We need to be proactive and encourage our fish farmers to breed and rear exotic cold water fishes like trout, which is highly priced in national and international markets,” he said, adding that “the fishery department is willing to provide all required technical knowledge, inputs and logistics to support the cause of fishery revolution in the state.”
The minister urged the trainers from the ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT) to “review the effectiveness of the training after a few months.”
He said that “Ziro valley is famed in the country for its unique paddy-cum-pisciculture, but, due to inbreeding of the commonly grown common carp variety of fish in the paddy fields for a long time, the quality of the fishes has reduced, and so common carp had to be replaced by Amur carp, which has revived the quality of the fishes.”
The minister further informed that, “if the training programme and the equipment provided by ICAR-CIFT for value addition of the fish products are a success in Ziro valley, the fishery department will keep an annual budget the following year to replicate the same in other parts of the state.”
Lower Subansiri DC Bamin Nime said that, “with the upcoming aqua park in Ziro valley, which will be first of its kind in the country, I am sure that development of fishery sector will witness a sea change not only in Lower Subansiri but in the entire state.”
ICAR-CIFT principal scientist Dr U Sreedhar informed that, “during the last 62 years, ICAR-CIFT has made commendable scientific contributions in the fields of fish harvesting, processing, packaging, product development, quality assurance, fishery by-products, and fishery waste utilisation.”
He informed that, during the training programme, his team would “aid and provide training to fish farmers on technical inputs on fish harvesting, value addition, fish engineering, waste utilisation, fishery healthcare, ready-to-cook products, quality assurance, packaging, harvest technologies, and business incubation.”
The ICAR-CIFT team also includes senior scientist Dr Jesmi Debbarma and scientist G Kamei.
Taki also released a training manual on harvest and post-harvest technologies, and visited the fish hatchery unit of the Gaumco Multipurpose Cooperative Society in Hari village.
Besides fish farmers, the programme was attended by DFDO Liagi Lasa, HoDs, ZPMs, and others. (DIPRO)
