By our Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, Dec 21: Chief Minister Sarbanda Sonowal has asked the Department of Fisheries to augment fish production to bridge demand-supply gap and eble the fishery sector to provide meaningful vocations to fish farmers and other entrepreneurs.
Chairing a meeting of the Fisheries Department in his conference room today, Sonowal asked Principal Secretary of Fisheries MC Jauhari to take immediate step to bring down demand-supply gap and augment fish production in state by taking innovative schemes.
Assam has predomintly fish eating population with 90 per cent of the people eat fish. However, production of fish outweighs supply creating a gap. While Assam produces 294 thousand metric tonnes of fish, demand stands at 336 thousand metric tonnes. Sonowal asked the department to take steps to minimize this demand-supply missmatch and said that his government will extend all possible help in this regard.
Sonowal also pointed out that there is huge demand of local fish in Assam and other North Eastern States, and a good production of fish in the State, besides fulfilling the domestic demands, can send the output outside the State.
The meeting also decided that in the larger interests of development of fishery resources of the state in a coherent manner, all the beel fisheries and other water bodies in the State are to be handed over to the Fishery Department. Under Chief Minister’s Samagra Gramya Unyan Yoja the Fishery Department is set to bring about convergence of Ghare Ghare Pukhuri Ghare Ghare Maach with proper marketing of fish and revisiting the mandates of Assam Fisheries Development Corporation and Fishfed by which contribution of fishery to State Development has been aimed to be escalated which is at present stands at 4.08 per cent.
Fishery Minister Parimal Suklabaidya, Principal Secretary Fishery Department MC Juhari, Commissioner and Secretary to the Chief Minister Sanjay Lohia and a host of senior officers were present at the meeting.