Commissioner of Fisheries Ramsankar Naik said that district and mandal-wise maps were being prepared using remote sensing data to identify creeks and estuaries for undertaking aquaculture, reported The Hindu.
He was speaking at an interactive meet with aquaculture farmers of North Andhra organised at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute to create awareness on best management practices and bio-security and disease management.
Role for Irrigation Department
Mr Naik said he had directed the district authorities to involve the Irrigation Department to undertake de-silting and de-weeding of the potential areas where aquaculture could be taken up.
He said they would set up quarantine facilities for fish and prawn hatcheries in Visakhapatnam and Nellore. Referring to the new fisheries policy, which is under preparation, he said that the government was committed to fish farming.
Advice to Bankers
Calling for easy credit flow into the sector, Mr Naik advised the bankers to be liberal in granting loans.
He also underlined the need for improving cold storage and processing infrastructure, and pointed out how tuna was being sold by some fishermen at Rs 20 per kg even as there was a potential to earn Rs 500 per kg if the tuna was flown within 24 hours to Japan.
Juvenile fish
Mr Naik said fishermen should abstain from capturing juvenile fish. He also hinted that they would supply 2,800 solar pump-sets originally sanctioned for agriculture with a provision of subsidy to progressive aqua farmers.
CMFRI Scientist in-charge of Visakhapatnam centre Shubhodeep Ghosh, Central Institute of Fisheries Technology Principal Scientist U. Sreedhar, and Assistant Director of Drug Control Administration V. Vijaya Sekhar explained the precautions to be taken by the aqua farmers.
