CIFRI Awards
An awareness programme on ‘Pen aquaculture technology for livelihood improvement’ was organized by ICAR-CIFRI, Regional Centre, Guwahati in collaboration with the Assistant Director of Fisheries (ADF), Namsai district, Arunachal Pradesh (AP) at Jona III village on the banks of Bor Beel on March 24, 2021 on the occasion of stocking of pens installed in the beel. ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore in collaboration with Department of Fisheries, Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh initiated pen culture demonstrations in Bor beel, with an objective to validate the technology in the states for livelihood improvement under the project sponsored by National Mission on Himalayan studies. ICAR-CIFRI as the implementing agency and DoF, AP as the implementing partner are making this joint effort for promoting pen aquaculture in Borbeel of AP for its large-scale adoption by the wetland fishers of the state. Bor beel has high infestation with aquatic macrophytes with 70% of its water surface covered with thick macrophytes rendering it unusable for fisheries activities. Under the NMHS project, almost waste-water area with thick macrophyte coverage was cleared and utilized for pen aquaculture. Five pens of 0.1 ha area each were installed in the beel with active participation of the local fishers communities. A total of 25,000 fish fingerlings comprising of Labeo rohita, Cirrhinus mrigala, L. bata, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix and Cyprinus carpio were stocked in the pens on 24.03.2021. ICAR-CIFRI also provided 3.5 tons of CIFRI CageGrow floating feed for feeding the reared fishes. The awareness programme was attended by Shri P. C. Bhattacharyya, Assistant Director of Fisheries, Namsai; district fisheries officials (Shri R. Kulshreshtha, Fishery Officer; Irom Mohindro Singh and Biman Pangyouk, Fishery Demonstrators), local participants and the ICAR-CIFRI team. A total of 51 fishers from the village (including 17 women) participated in the programme. Dr. S. C. S. Das, Scientist welcomed the officials and participants and informed that the pen culture demonstrations were taken up to improve the livelihood of the fishers. He urged the fishers to take sincere efforts in implementing the pen aquaculture technology with technical support from the Institute and funding support from the NMHS. Shri P. C. Bhattacharyya thanked the Institute for taking up the initiative in pen aquaculture in Bor beel. Shri Dhanyabad Gogoi, Gaobura and representatives of the fishers expressed his sincere thanks for the support given by the Institute and urged his fellow fishers to take up the pen aquaculture activities sincerely. Dr. Sona Yengkokpam, Senior Scientist explained the fishers about the post-stocking management practice to be followed including feeding activities, water quality and health monitoring. She acknowledged the financial grant given by NMHS, Almora for implementing the project. She thanked Dr. B. K. Das, Director, ICAR-CIFRI, Barrackpore for facilitating implementation of the project and Dr. B. K. Bhattacharjya, Principal Scientist and PI of the project for the overall supervision. She also thanked the officials of the Department of Fisheries, Namsai for their active support in implementing the project activities and the fishers for their active participation. CIFRI CageGrow feeds were distributed to the fishers for use in the pen culture. It is expected that through this awareness programme and demonstration, pen aquaculture will be adopted in Bor beel and will lead to enhanced income and livelihood of the fishers.
