The fishery sector in Assam has been witnessing steady growth, significantly narrowing the demand-supply gap for fresh fish in the state. Boosting production remains crucial to achieve complete self-reliance so that even the annual shortfall of around 20,000 MT can also be met by local fish production. Developing the fish value chain to cater to the growing market of packaged fish products can help entrepreneurs in the sector tap the premium segment of pre-cleaned, ready-to-cook, and dried fish items. As more than 90% of the state population are fish consumers, the demand is expected to go up with the rise in population. Therefore, fishermen of the state having easy access to formal credit and insurance coverage remain critical to sustaining the growth momentum. The Kisan Credit Card (KCC) is a saving-cum-loan product available for fishermen, but the awareness of the scheme is strikingly low among fishermen of the state, and due to weak outreach, limited fishing households have accessed the working capital loan under the scheme. The Central Government raised the limit of KCC loans to Rs 5 lakh; of that, the limit for collateral-free short-term agricultural loans, including for allied activities of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries, has been increased from Rs 1.60 lakh to Rs 2 lakh per borrower against KCC cards. This has enhanced credit accessibility, particularly for small and marginal farmers, including fishing households, which can now borrow more money to meet their working capital needs. Besides, under the “Modified Interest Subvention Scheme” of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, it provides an interest subvention of 1.5% to banks for providing short-term working capital loans up to Rs 3.00 lakh at 7% per annum provided through KCC. Because of the government support by way of reducing the interest burden, the loan repayment is lower than the normal market rate when the KCC scheme is popularised among fishing households. Farmers who repay their loans promptly on time receive a 3% Prompt Repayment Incentive; it effectively reduces the interest rate to 4% per annum. The KCC scheme also offers features such as an ATM-enabled debit card, one-time documentation, an inbuilt provision for cost escalation in the credit limit, and the flexibility to make multiple withdrawals within the sanctioned limit, among others, but financial literacy plays the crucial role in informing the farmers and fishing households about these features in detail. As a KCC loan is in the form of revolving cash credit, fishermen are able to withdraw and repay funds as needed, based on their cash flow and income generation patterns. The state attaining self-sufficiency in the true sense is also essential to eliminate the possibility of the use of formaldehyde in fish procured from other states to cater to the shortfall in demand. The Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for ‘restricting import/stock/sale of fish imported from other self-sufficient states by road/river route using formaldehyde for keeping fish in marketable condition for long duration’ issued by the state’s Fishery Department has recommended measures to address this issue. The SOP highlights that suppliers of such fish mostly use road transport, which takes considerable time from Andhra Pradesh and other southern states, but such vehicles lack proper refrigeration facilities. It cautions that unscrupulous traders use formaldehyde to keep such fishes fresh during transit as well as in storage on arrival by wholesalers before such fish reach retail market points across the state. The department warned through the SOP that fish contaminated with a huge quantity of formaldehyde and consumed by humans is harmful and may cause severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and renal injury and may even be fatal in extreme cases. As the use of formaldehyde in fishes is not visible to the human eye nor detectable by smell, the fish appears perfectly normal and fresh to consumers, it explains. The SOP underscores strict measures such as intensified and regular inspection of fish samples at wholesale markets by food inspectors equipped with a rapid formalin testing kit to ensure that fresh fish contaminated with formaldehyde do not reach retail markets. Transparency of the inspection and testing process and regular updating of the laboratory test findings can boost confidence of consumers about the quality of fish sold in the retail markets. The SOP underscored the need for the creation of modern warehousing facilities with built-in refrigeration facilities for bulk storage of fish at wholesale markets to address it, but the pragmatic solution to the problem lies in boosting local production of fish within the state. Increasing fish production hinges on timely procurement of quality fish seeds and reliable fish feed, for which the fishermen need working capital. The fact that fewer than 2500 KCC cards have been issued to fish farmers in the state clearly points to poor awareness among them about the scheme and easy credit facility. Improving credit outreach can unlock Assam’s untapped potential toward complete self-sufficiency in Assam’s fish production.