Meghalaya moves to boost fish production folding its first State-level ‘Fish Farmers Conclave 2019’

A Reporter

SHILLONG: The first State-level ‘Fish Farmers Conclave 2019’ was held on Thursday at the State Convention Center here. State Minister of Fisheries, C Ymbon was the chief guest during the inaugural session of the conclave.

Addressing the gathering, Ymbon while congratulating the department for organizing the conclave for the benefit of the fish farmers in the State, said that the conclave is about sharing experiences and demonstrating how combined action in partnerships can drive sustainable growth and shared prosperity while preserving natural resources for future generations.

He said that the Government of Meghalaya has identified fisheries as a key sector since fish production in the State is very low and the department has taken up several measures to augment fish production in the State. The Meghalaya State Aquaculture Mission with its motto ‘From Dependence to Self Sufficiency’ is a new chapter for the Fisheries Department, the minister said.

He also informed that the Meghalaya State Aquaculture Mission 2.0 which is the new version of the Meghalaya State Aquaculture Mission is being implemented from April 1, 2019 and different programmes and mini missions which are farmer-friendly are being incorporated in this misssion. The main focus is on maximization of fish production through intervention of technologies, adding more water bodies under aqua farming, availability of quality fishseeds, promoting scientific feeding and improved managerial practices to improve fish production.

He also said that as fish is a perishable commodity, marketing linkages is also being looked into while also taking care of the human resource development and capacity building of all stakeholders under this mission.

Earlier, in his address, Agricultural Production Commissioner, Fisheries, K N Kumar said the conclave which is the first of its kind in the State, also seeks to acknowledge the hard work put in by all stakeholders who toiled over the last six years in achieving self-sufficiency in the production of freshwater fish production in the State. He added that although there has been a rapid increase in fish production over the past few years, there is still a gap of 15,000 MT as per the requirement of 27,000 MT.

He informed the objectives of MSAM 2.0 are area and productivity expansion, critical infrastructure development, conservation of indigenous fisheries resources and to identify emerging opportunities in the fisheries sector. He also informed that the total investment for MSAM 2.0 is 378 crore.

Kumar also highlighted the need of constituting the Meghalaya Fish Farmers’ Association taking into consideration that there are now about 22,000 fish farmers in the State.

He said that this association would help fish farmers to articulate their views, suggestions and demands and also influence policymakers with regards to fish farming in the State.

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