Fish farming for Tourism and Self Sustainability

Gangtok, December 6 (VoS): Ever thought in the wildest dream of fishing in the icy cold lake or in the swift flowing rivers with turbulent current? The activity which has been till date limited to members of the Angling Association and some high defense officers in the highland lakes could perhaps attract lots of angling enthusiast both domestically and abroad if the plan afoot to including angling in the tourism itinerary visualizes to reality.
Gifted with glaciers fed perennial rivers and lakes along with abundance of fresh water, aquaculture has been taken up in the Sikkim as a major challenge both to promote   augmenting income, promoting fishery for tourism and conservation of riverine fish germplasm. In the estimated 900 kilometre stretch of riverine system and scores of lakes of Sikkim, about 48 different species of fish species has been recorded. From this riverine system only over 120 metric tons of fish is harvested annually of which Mahseer, Snow Trout and Cat Fish are among the important species.
With the active support of National Fish Development Board (NFDB) along with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Directorate of Cold Water Fisheries Research Centre, Bhimtaal, the State Directorate of Fisheries has identified programs for fisheries development in Sikkim, considering the altitudinal aspects as well the climatic zones suited best to amplify and boost the initiatives.
Accordingly, high, mid and lowland area programs for the development of fisheries have been categorically typified to enable the species specific schemes to be promoted. The Directorate has established numbers of fish seed farms for brown trout at high an altitude of 13000 feet to low lying areas at 1300 feet altitudes to propagate and conserve different species fishes.
Men Moi Chu lake at an altitude of over 13 thousand feet, in East Sikkim near Indo-China border has been identified as the main breeding centre for exotic brown trout. The brooders collected from the lake and the streams are stripped artificially and reared in a regulated condition till it reaches the size of fingerling to be released in the lakes and streams.
The Directorate has in its plan to construct tanks to scientifically raise the brooders and further increase the capacity of both infrastructure and man power. Annually, the fingerlings raised in this centre are released in thousands in the high altitude lakes and streams, and since till date the activity being strictly regulated, it is expected that it has been able to stock sizeable quantity of game fish in the lakes and streams. A farm in Lachung in North and Uttarey in West has also been identified to rear brown trout.
Similarly, rainbow trout brooder raising program has been initiated in the moderate climatic zones of the State. This program has been undertaken in collaboration with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), to promote commercial production of rainbow trout which is high on the menu of foreign tourists.  For this purpose, fish farmers are being provided training and necessary subsidy, apart from exposure tours.
Carp varieties of fish specially the common carp and the Chinese carp is being emphasized in the warmer zones as an endeavor to enhance the fish production as well the income of the fish farmers.
Besides the above, the Directorate has also initiated promulgation program for Mahseer which is found in the foothills of the Himalayan river system. Keeping in view the declining number of Mahseer in the riverine system of Sikkim, the artificial stocking of Mahseer fish seed in the river system has also been undertaken. A farm at Baguwa in South Sikkim has been dedicated to save the Mahseer species.
That apart, the water reservoirs of hydro electric projects that have come in Sikkim have been identified to be declared as fish sanctuaries. Accordingly, dams in the river Rangeet and Teesta has already been declared fish sanctuary where thousands of fingerlings of Mahseer and other varieties of fish have been released.
Fisheries development program in Sikkim has been initiated basically with an objective of augmenting food nutrition, generating supplementary source of income, promotion of Angling tourism and conservation of riverine fish germplasm. To augment the knowledge on fish farming, regular exposure tour for both the departmental field officers as well the beneficiaries of the centrally sponsored schemes are organized regularly wherein they are sent to the fish farms in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
The State Directorate of Fisheries during the tenth five year plan provided benefits to over one thousand fish farmers.