Itanagar: "Arunachal Pradesh can become an exporter of inland coldwater fish if we employ the right approach and technology to exploit the enormous potential present in the state," said AHV and Fisheries Minister Tage Taki on Monday here in Lower Subansiri district.

Taki stated that Arunachal has "huge potential in the inland coldwater fishery in Tawang, Bomdila, Mechukha, and Ziro" during the opening ceremony of a three-day programme titled "Training-cum-demonstration on harvest and post-harvest technologies" that is being organised by the Visakhapatnam Research Centre in Andhra Pradesh.

The fisheries department is ready to offer the necessary technical expertise, inputs, and logistics to help the cause of the fishery revolution in the state, he continued. "We need to be proactive and encourage our fish farmers to breed and rear exotic cold water fishes like trout, which are highly priced in national and worldwide markets."

The ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT) trainers were admonished by the minister to "evaluate the efficiency of the training after a few months."

According to him, "Ziro valley is renowned throughout the nation for its distinctive paddy-cum-pisciculture, but due to long-term inbreeding of the common carp variety of fish in the paddy fields, the quality of the fishes has decreased, and so common carp had to be replaced by Amur carp, which has revived the quality of the fishes."

"If the training programme and the equipment given by ICAR-CIFT for value addition of the fish products are a success in Ziro valley, the fisheries department will retain an annual budget the following year to reproduce the same in other regions of the state," the minister added.

DC in Lower Subansiri According to Bamin Nime, the growth of the fisheries industry "would experience a sea shift not just in Lower Subansiri but in the whole state" with the construction of the soon-to-be nation's first aqua park in Ziro Valley.

"Over the previous 62 years, ICAR-CIFT has produced remarkable scientific contributions in the disciplines of fish harvesting, processing, packaging, product development, quality assurance, fisheries by-products, and fishery waste use," according to ICAR-CIFT head scientist Dr. U Sreedhar.

Also Read: https://www.business-northeast.com/manipur-start-up-scheme-can-help-provide-jobs-manipur-cm/

He stated that his team will "assist and offer training to fish farmers on technical inputs on fish harvesting, value addition, fish engineering, waste utilisation, fisheries healthcare, ready-to-cook items, quality assurance, packaging, harvest technologies, and business incubation" during the training programme.

Senior scientists Dr. Jesmi Debbarma and G Kamei are also members of the ICAR-CIFT team.

Taki also paid a visit to the Gaumco Multipurpose Cooperative Society's fish hatchery in Hari village and published a training document on harvest and post-harvest technology.

Along with fish farmers, HoDs, ZPMs, and DFDO Liagi Lasa attended the seminar.