The Chhattisgarh Government will get a remote sensing survey done to identify location of ponds, water bodies and rivers to produce fish of any variety in the State.
Eight districts are in the list of first survey. Digital maps will be prepared. All details relating to fish rearing will be put online, officials stated.
Notably, the Government has achieved major success in fish production. The production is increasing at a rapid pace. The production of fishes was about 2.51 lakh metric tonnes till December 2015.
The production of fishes had been about 1.20 lakh metric tonnes in the year 2004-05. There was an increase of 25 lakh metric tonne during the past 12 years.
The State is self-sufficient in fish seed production. About 25 crore fish seeds had been produced in the year 2001-02 and it had increased to 135 crore fish seed in the year 2015-16. Two lakh fishermen are employed in the sector.
The State Government had taken several steps to increase fish production. The Fingerlings size (75 mm) are being supplied to the fish farmers. Banks are providing loans worth Rs1 lakh at One per cent interest rate to the farmers to boost fish production. About 2975 kilogram per hectare fish is produced in village fish ponds, 19 kilogram in big ponds and 98 kilogram fish per hectare in medium-sized fish ponds.
Rare and extinct species of fish like Mangur, Chipala, Pabda are being grown. Mangur Hatcheries had been established at Raipur,Korba,Kabhirdham, Koriya, Bilaspur, Kondagaon and Durg districts to produce Mangur fish seeds. Sea Prawns (Vinnebai Species) are being grown at Dhamtari district which are on the verge of extinction. Twenty-five metric ton Prawns had been produced at the site.
The State is among the top in Cage Culture in the entire country. It has been encouraged in Sarodasagar and Shirpaani water reservoirs in Kabhirdham district, Dhanda water bodies in Bilaspur, Jhumka waters in Korea district and Tauranga Waters in Gariyabandh district.
Four metric tonnes fish is being produced at each Cage Culture. Till now 475 metric ton fish had been produced in Cage culture. Fish farmers and officers visit Chhattisgarh to observe Cage Culture and its benefits.
The progressive farmers from Odisha, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh visited the State and learnt the techniques.
Financial assistance is being provided to rear fish at 6000 hectares area of water bodies and 143 Anicuts. About Rs78.69 lakh had been given as financial assistance in the year 2013-14. About 3.14 lakh metric tonnes of fish had been produced in the year 2014-15. The progressive farmers are producing 8,000-12,000 kilogram fish (Katla, Rohu, Mrugal) per hectare.
In February last year, the State government had announced that about 39000 fishermen of the State would get employment through fish farming in the Anicuts and barrages constructed over rivers and nullahs.
The Government has also banned breeding, farming, transport and trade of Big Head and Mangur species of fishes in the State.
Decisions in this regard were taken by the State Cabinet in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Raman Singh.
In the meeting it was resolved that the fishermen should be included as members of more than 1000 Fishermen Cooperative Societies of the State. They would be given opportunity of fish farming in the 400 Anicuts constructed in past few years and the Anicuts and barrages under construction in the State.
The Anicuts and barrages would be allotted to the Fishermen Cooperative Societies by the Directorate of Fisheries as per procedure.