GUWAHATI, July 23 - The Assam Fisheries Development Corporation (AFDC) Ltd is going to invest in beel fishery development and management in the State, said its Project Director PK Hazarika while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the training of trainers (ToT) programme on �Management of floodplain wetlands for sustainable fisheries� organised by the Guwahati Regional Centre of the Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute here.
The five-day programme that began today, is being attended by fishery development officers, fishery officers, beel development and management committee members and others from Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur and Meghalaya.
Speaking on the occasion, AFDC Ltd Managing Director NC Basumatary observed that beel fisheries of Assam have huge potential for enhancement of the fishery sector. He said beel fishery resources of the State are under anthropogenic stress and emphasised that AFDC Ltd would take up steps such as demarcation of beel boundaries, halt to encroachment, excavation of silted-up beels, renovation of bunds and clearance of macrophyte infestation for reviving and enhancing resources of such fisheries.
Inaugurating the programme, Dr Dilip Kumar, former VC of ICAR-Central Institute of Fishery Education, urged the participants to utilise the training and gain as much knowledge as possible from it.
Kumar emphasised that beel resources are not only important for fishery purposes, but also for many ecosystem services that these beels offer to millions of people. Saving the beel fishery resources for future generations should be given priority because operational areas of beels are getting reduced day by day because of siltation and encroachment, he added.
The dignitaries present at the inaugural session included Dr Pronob Das, scientist, ICAR-CIFRI; Dr BK Bhattacharjya, head of CIFRI Guwahati Regional Centre and AK Yadav, scientist and co-convenor of the programme.