CIFRI Awards
Dams/Barrages are considered as one of the major threats along with pollution, and climate change to the river ecology and fisheries. The river Tons, is a major tributary of Yamuna river in the Ganga basin and home for both indigenous and exotic fish species. Due to the geomorphologic advantages, Himalayan rivers are mostly preferred for the hydropower projects. The Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) has proposed a 60 MW Naitwar Mori Hydro Electric Project on river Tons. As a technical consultant, ICAR-CIFRI has carried out a detailed investigation on the fish diversity, abundance and particular focus on the migratory fish species and their reproductive biology. Based on the study, ICAR-CIFRI has proposed fish pass design suitable for the migration of these identified fish species. In order to advocate the operational functionalities of the proposed fish pass design, tagging of five different migratory fish species i) Schizothorax richardsonii (Snow trout) ii) Schizothorax progastus (Dinnawah Snowtrout) iii) Schizothora labiatus (Kunnar Snowtrout)iv) Salmo trutta (Brown trout) and v) Oncorhynchus mykiss (Rainbow trout), of total 50 numbers were done in the stretch of the river (31°04.076’ N 078°05.989’E; Elevation 1275m to 31°01.994’ N 078°03.181’E; Elevation 1154m) during 19 th April to 3 rd May 2021. Tagging was done with external T-bar anchor floy of 45 mm coded with ICAR-CIFRI. Awareness programmes on the “conservation of native fish fauna in river Tons and Tagging methods for fish migration” were carried out among the local fishermen, anglers and official staffs of the Hydropower project. More than 200 participants were attended with following guideline of COVID19 protocol at different locations. During the investigation, tagged fish was recovered 4.5 km upstream from the released site, after 42h of tagging, indicating the provision of fish pass in the proposed Dam would facilitate the migratory behaviour of these fish species for their sustenance in the river. This is the first study carried out towards tagging of five different migratory fish species of high altitude Himalayan river. The entire programme was carried out under the supervision of Dr. B.K.Das, Director and investigator Dr. A.K.Sahoo, Senior Scientist and project staff.
