Rehan Qayoom Mir
Srinagar, Mar 14: Calling for a major expansion of cold-water fisheries, Union Minister for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries Rajiv Ranjan Singh on Saturday said trout production must be scaled up to enhance the income of farmers and tap growing export opportunities.
While addressing the National Conference on Cold Water Fisheries at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Conference Centre, the Minister, announced a Rs 100-crore Integrated Aqua Park at Anantnag in South Kashmir. “The Centre is focusing on strengthening aquaculture infrastructure, value addition and market linkages to accelerate the growth of cold-water fisheries in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said, adding, “The project would strengthen aquaculture infrastructure and accelerate the development of the cold-water fisheries sector in Jammu and Kashmir.”
“We must scale up trout production and strengthen the incomes of cold-water fish farmers by improving productivity, promoting value addition and tapping export markets where these species have strong demand,” the minister said.
He stressed that the Centre is focusing on end-to-end value-chain development, ensuring cold-water regions can efficiently produce, process and market trout and other high-value fish species through modern infrastructure and improved market linkages.
Singh said the Integrated Aqua Park in Anantnag would serve as a hub for innovation, training, processing and aggregation, helping local entrepreneurs and fish farmers expand their enterprises and create new employment opportunities in the region.
The Union Minister also urged states and Union Territories to organise fish farmers into cooperatives and Fish Farmer Producer Organisations (FFPOs) so that they can better access government schemes, infrastructure support and institutional credit.
He noted that financial assistance through fisheries development initiatives, including funding support available under the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund, would help local enterprises scale operations and strengthen the aquaculture ecosystem.
During the conference, Singh also released the Model Guidelines for the Development of Cold-Water Fisheries, which provide a comprehensive framework covering scientific seed stocking, cage and pen-based aquaculture, governance mechanisms, biodiversity conservation and improved value-chain linkages to ensure sustainable development of the sector.
Notably, the conference was attended by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Union Minister of State S. P. Singh Baghel and Agriculture Production Minister Javid Ahmad Dar, along with policymakers, scientists, industry representatives and fisheries stakeholders from across the country. (KNO)
