Assam's fish production rises over 33 per cent in 4 years: Official

Guwahati, Jun 26: Assam is on its way to become self-sufficient in fish production as the state's output in fisheries in the last four years has increased by over 33 per cent to 3.93 lakh metric tonnes in 2020-21, an official said on Friday.

The fish production in the northeastern state was at 2.94 lakh metric tonne in 2016-17, it said.

Currently, demand for fish in the state is around 4 lakh metric tonne per annum as against a production of 3.93 lakh metric tonne.

"There was a yawning demand-supply gap of 42 per cent in 2015-16 and it has come down to 0.7 lakh metric tonnes in 2020-2021," Fisheries Development Officer Pratul Deka said.

Per capita fish consumption rose from 8.5 kg per annum to 11.88 kg in the state, he said.

Fish seed production has increased from 5,678 million to 9,886 million in the same period, witnessing a 74.11 per cent growth.

The state currently has 12,610 ponds, covering 1,523.74 hectares and 4,029 community ponds spread over 468.1 hectares.

More than 2,000 hectarse of areas have been brought under new ponds, he said.

According to the official, 521 fish seed hatcheries have been built under various schemes for the period between 2016-17 and June in 2021-2022.

Livelihood support has also been extended to 20,000 fishermen, he said.

A draft state fishery policy is also being finalised which will boost the sector in a big way, the official added.