“The country is looking forward to reservoirs for a boost in inland fish production and a participatory approach is the best way to manage inland fisheries. It is expected that the unit would be a great help to the marginalised section of people staying in and around the reservoir who depend on fishing for their livelihood,” said Jayasankar, Director, CIFA, Bhubaneswar, who took the initiative to set up the unit free of cost.
“The CIFRI has developed the technology of culture-based fisheries for augmenting fish production from reservoirs,” M. Feroz Khan, Scientist-in-charge, CIFRI Bangalore, said.
The hatchery unit, with a production capacity of 10 lakh spawn a season (three months), would be used for induced breeding of Cauvery carps and Indian major carps, TheHindu reports.
The society members would be trained from the first week of October, N. Sreedhar, CIFA, said. “We are planning to set up a similar society at the Banasurasagar dam site to tap the fisheries potential of the dam soon,” he said.
The society, a joint venture of the CIFA and the CIFRI in association with the State Fisheries Department, was set up in 2009 to ensure sustainable income to the tribal fishermen in the area.