State fishery official says Assam is almost at the self-sufficiency level of production

Guwahati: The Fisheries Department of Assam is responsible for the development, conservation and management of fisheries resources in the state. The department’s mission is to promote sustainable and responsible fishing practices, enhance production and improve the socio-economic conditions of the fishing community.

Business Northeast spoke to the Nodal Officer (NO), OPIU, APART (Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project) cum State Fishery Information Officer and Managing Director, FISHFED, Dr. Dhruba Jyoti Sharma, to know about the industry. Sharma spoke about the plans and schemes not only for production purposes but also those which aim to improve the health condition of people.

BNE: The fishing industry is a significant contributor to the economy of Assam. What steps are being taken to ensure that the industry continues to grow and remain sustainable?
Sharma: You rightly said that the fisheries sector is contributing much to the socio-economic development of the state. You will be happy to know that in the last few years, highly educated people are joining fish production (business) as well the new commerce. It is very encouraging. All these things definitely increase the importance and other aspects of the sector. There are two aspects. One is the technical support to them and another is the financial and schematic support. In both cases, the Directorate of Fishery is working a lot. One workshop is going on at the Indian Institute of Bank Management in Guwahati. Through technical aspects, we are giving specific systematic and scientific training to people for fish culture so that they can be self-reliant.
Besides, we have different schemes to help the beneficiaries. They are those people who are intending to grow fish farming. Certainly, there are some criteria for it is not possible to put all within one scheme. If you see the state GDP, the contribution of the Fishery sector has increased. If you see the national GDP today, 5% comes from agriculture of which, 2% comes from fishery. That’s why the fisheries sector is called a sunrise sector.

BNE: How does the Fisheries Department collaborate with other government agencies and stakeholders to achieve its goals?
Sharma: The Fisheries Department has its own schemes and dimensions through SoPD (State of Priority Development). It is the state department fund. Apart from that, with support from the World Bank, we are implementing a scheme called Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project. It is very good throughout the state. The fish production from the beneficiaries has come to double. Apart from that, there are many new aspects, such as farming with small indigenous fishes and value-added products. Now, the Fisheries Department is readying to collaborate with German innovative agencies, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA). Apart from that, other departments of the Government of Assam like PNRD, the Department of Agriculture, Veterinary Department and in the national scenario you can see the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) and other cooperative departments together are trying to develop the fisheries sector in the state through convergence for the benefit of the target audience.

BNE: What are some of the recent initiatives and programmes that the Fisheries Department has implemented, and what impact have they had on the fishing industry in Assam?
Sharma: Our first initiative is to increase production. Now, we are almost at the self-sufficiency level of fish production. If you go back during the COVID-19 times, no fish came from outside the state. We could serve our consumers with local production. Besides, a sizeable quantity of fish was sent to other northeastern states. Definitely, we have a lot of schemes, propaganda plans and strategies to increase production. There are other things like the production of feed, quality fish seed etc. In marketing too, we are doing hygienic and systematic marketing. We are also constructing a hygienic fish market. We are helping in production of value-added items, such as fish pickle, fish chutney, etc. In all these aspects, we are taking a lot of schemes. Definitely, the fishery sector will go further.

BNE: How does the Fisheries Department address the concerns of small-scale fishermen and ensure that their livelihoods are protected?
Sharma: Fishery is the most profitable venture in comparison to other agricultural and allied activities. If you go for paddy farming, the profit you will get will be much lower compared to the profit earned through the fishery. At the same time, in this sector, there is a requirement of less investment, manpower and energy. Through our various schemes, we are not only attracting many people for fish farming, but we are also providing incentives. Some schemes are in the 80: 20, where 80% will be given by us and 20% by them.
Apart from that, we have the Kisan Credit Card Scheme, which was not there for the fishery sector earlier. Through this, if a person has no other option to start a business, for those the scheme is present. If someone is willing to take help with the scheme, he/she can directly come to our office. We will arrange all of them. Likewise, whoever is willing to be self-reliant through the fishery sector can approach their nearby fishery development officer or fishery office, or FISHFED office. There are many options to help such people from us. However, for each option, there are different criteria.

BNE: How does the Fisheries Department ensure the safety and quality of the fish that is produced and consumed in Assam?
Sharma: Those people who are working in the fishery sector are in a very sensitive job. Recently, we have started the provision of group insurance. For this, all who are involved in the fishery sector will be insured. The insurance premium is paid by the government so that their job gives security to their family. Secondly, we are trying to promote hygienic and systematic marketing of fish for the customers for their health. Recently, we are trying to bring about the importance of the development of quality fish seeds in the state for ensuring the safety and quality of fish that is produced and consumed in Assam. In a nutshell, importance is given to the secured production and consumption of fish in the state.

BNE: What role does technology play in the fishing industry in Assam?
Sharma: Fisheries technologies are developing a lot. Today, there is a possibility of fish farming through Biofloc system of fish farming. It is for those who have very limited land. With this system, they can develop fish farming in roof terraces as well. Many people in Guwahati are adopting this method, even commercially. Like this there is a RAS-System, that is. Recirculatory Aquaculture system. This technology is also there for us. Again, there are cases where there is a large pond that is difficult to manage, there we prefer to go for pen culture and cage culture. Those who adopted scientific technology have benefitted a lot. But I must say that before adopting any technological or scientific method in this sector, one must have knowledge about the concerned technology. They who fail to acquire that will eventually fail to proceed in such work.

BNE: What are the biggest challenges that the Fisheries Department faces in Assam and how does it plan to address those?
Sharma: The basic thing is that fish production is increased in our state of Assam. One problem we have is the lack of availability of quality fish seeds on the right side and at the right time. We are giving tremendous importance to addressing this issue. We want that each farmer in Assam in each place gets the right size quality fish seed at the right time. For this, we have taken a number of steps and enacted a number of Acts too. Secondly, due to flood fishery production is badly affected. Now we are giving training on how to go for fish farming in such a situation. People are told about measures to be taken while fish farming in flood-prone areas. Adding to that, the fish farmers will be taught what to do when the flood already damaged their fish. Another challenge is the availability of quality feed. Maximum feed is imported from other states, which is quite costly. We are now trying to use the local ingredient to develop local fish feed. For this, many central government research organisations like CIFRI (Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute) did much area-specific research. A very good result has come out of this.
We expect that with such initiatives, the fishery sector will be successful in overcoming the 3-4 challenges we have

BNE: What is the total fish production of Assam? And what is the demand in the state?
Sharma: Last year, our fish production was 4.17 lakh metric tonnes. Till a few years back, we had a calculation that a person should consume 11 kg of fish per capita per year. That we have achieved. Now our target is that each person should consume 15 kg per capita per year. If that needs to be achieved, we will need 5 lakh metric tonnes. These things are relative. If fish does not come from any part of India, people will be able to consume it. But Assamese are fish lovers, they will consume as much fish as they find it. So, it is difficult to assess what is the demand. So, our demand is determined by the WHO estimate which we have achieved. As they suggested increasing it to 15 kg for good. So, we are targeting 15 kg now. We are almost nearing this target.

BNE: What are future plans the department has to improve fish production in the state?
Sharma: There are three things. First, is short-term. In the short term, we are targeting that within 1-2 years each person can consume fish at affordable prices. For this, we did a number of species diversification like bringing in high-yielding variety of fish so that with less investment, more fish can be produced. With that people will be able to purchase fish at lower prices.
In the medium term, we are trying to ensure the availability of good quantity of fish by people for themselves, as fish is very nutritious food.
Third, in the long term, we are trying to make it possible to send fish outside the northeast states. Along with this, we are trying to increase the production of fish. In other states like Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana production of fish is very high. As a result, they could produce many value-added products like pickles, chutney, etc. These products have a large market. We are thinking that if such high-level production can be done in Assam we can have sufficient stock for self-consumption, for importing to other states and also to prepare value-added products for the consumers.

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