The State produced 4.67 lakh tonnes fish during 2014-15 registering an increase of 13 per cent over the previous period. The State Fisheries Department has set a target to double the production in next five years.This was informed by Fisheries and ARD Minister Pradeep Maharathy during a workshop on ‘Freshwater Aquaculture Development in Odisha’, organised by the ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA) in collaboration with the State Fishery Department at Kausalyaganga on Saturday.
Fisheries Department Secretary Bishnupada Sethi informed that a National Freshwater Fish Brood Bank is being established at Kausalyaganga with the support of the National fisheries Development Board. The brood bank would help the fishermen of the State in sourcing quality fish seed.CIFA Director Dr P Jayasankar said the workshop would assess and document the research and development need of 10 agro climatic zones of the State and would develop a strategy for strengthening research-industry-farmer-extension linkage for aquaculture development.
Director of Fisheries P Krishna Mohan urged scientists to help the concerned the department overcome issues like low productivity of ponds and reservoirs, transportation of live fish, ensuring availability of fish seed by the time monsoon arrives, diversification, etc.District Fishery Officers from all districts in Odisha and State Fishery Department representatives from Jharkhand, Assam, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh have participated in the two-day workshop, among others.