The Govt. of West Bengal intends to make use of unutilized water bodies across the state for fish farming, to increase the overall fish production, according to the Fisheries minister of the state, Chandra Nath Sinha. Speaking at the conference – Fisheries Conclave: Maximising Production and Ensuring Safety organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (Cll), the minister stated that Bengal had the potential to overtake Andhra Pradesh in fish production within the near future, Millennium Post reported. A lot of initiatives are being taken to educate people involved in fish farming and the Fisheries department is formulating a road map to increase fish production in the next couple of years, the minister added.
Sources at the fisheries department reveal that around 15 per cent of water bodies in the state have been lying unused. If they could be used for aquaculture, fish production would be manifold.
Eminent scientists and key persons from the Aquaculture sector such as E Narayana, GM (Technical) Aquaculture Business, Anmol Feeds, Bishal Acharjee, BDM, IFB agro Industries, Dr. Bipul Kumar Das, DEAN, Faculty of Fisheries Science, WB University of Animal & Fisheries Sciences, Ajay Deb Mandal. Deputy Manager, Oriental Insurance Company, Dr. Uttam Kumar Sarkar, Principal Scientist CIFRI, Dipankar S Halder, Founder, Jalongi.com, A Lahiri, Deputy Director MPEDA, Mohammed Asif, Vice President 1B Group, Siddhartha Misra, FSO, Kolkata Muncipal Corporation, Rajashri Banerji, President SEAI, West Bengal, Dr. Uttam Kumar Panja, JD Fisheries, Govt. of West Bengal and Dr. P. P. Chakraborti, CIFA made presentations during the technical sessions.
Source: Aquaculture Spectrum