Fisheries dept carries out internal trade of 1.78L tonne

Witnessing a rising trend, the state fisheries department carried out internal trade of 1.78 lakh tonnes in the last financial year.

According to minister of state for the department Biplob Roy Chowdhury, in the preceding year, the department had carried out internal trade of around 1.62 lakh tonnes. Compared to the figures, the department has seen a growth in the last fiscal. The internal trade, as informed by the minister, was mainly involving prawns along with other varieties of fish with Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha.

Advertisement

According to Mr Chowdhury, the state government is also taking initiatives of producing Bengal’s most demanded hilsa fish. The department so far has been able to cultivate fish weighing around 500g to 600g. Efforts are being made to grow bigger fish of 1 kg, which is most loved by the fish-loving people of Bengal. Likewise, the fisheries department is also mulling over producing other varieties of fish that are also in huge demand. “We are also trying to produce stinging catfish (singhi) and walking catfish (mangur) for commercial purpose,” informed Mr Chowdhury at the Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Conclave, organised by the Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry today. After the fish produced would be introduced in the markets it would bring down prices of the two fish varieties considerably,” he added.

The minister also pointed out how the state government is putting efforts to save the fishermen venturing into the sea from mishaps. “We have provided GPS to 500 fishermen so far. Another 3,500 fishermen would be given the GPS soon, said the minister. The system would send signals to the control rooms intimating the officials about the location of the trawlers