GUWAHATI, Aug 26 - By adopting scientific methods of fishery enhancement, including pen aquaculture in large and productive floodplain wetlands, the North-east region should be able to supply local fish to its large fish-eating population, stated Deputy Director General of Fisheries and Animal Sciences, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Dr JK Jena, here recently while delivering his speech at a workshop organized by the Guwahati regional centre of the Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI).
The inception workshop titled �Up-scaling of climate-friendly pen aquaculture technology for improved livelihood, employment generation and enhanced income of wetland fishers of North-eastern India� was held on August 24 at the College of Veterinary Science (AAU), Khanapara.
In his speech, Jena also drew attention of the house to the fact that fish is now considered a healthy food as it contains highly digestible proteins, polyunsaturated fatty acid, vitamins and minerals.
The project is sponsored by the National Mission on Himalayan Studies, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Govt of India. The overall aim of the project is refinement of pen aquaculture technology for socio-economic uplift of wetland fishers of North-east India, which would be implemented by the ICAR-CIFRI in collaboration with the Directorates of Fisheries of Manipur, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.
Delivering his speech, Dr BK Das, Director of CIFRI, Barrackpore, stated that enclosure culture technologies developed and commercialized by the Institute are recently being adopted on a large scale in states like Odisha and Telengana, and there is immense scope for large-scale adoption of these technologies in open waters of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.
Prof RN Goswami, Dean of the College of Veterinary Science (AAU), Khanapara, Dr S Rajkhowa, Director, National Research Centre on Pig, Rani, Dr BK Bhattacharjya, head (Acting) of CIFRI Guwahati regional centre, H Biramani Singh, Director of Fisheries, Manipur, JK Samal, etc, along with 12 fishers from Manipur, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh participated in the workshop.
