Established Trout hatchery & raceways at Kohima Nagaland under ICAR DCFR NEH program
Trout Hatchery and Raceways was inaugurated on May 13 at Dziileke village under Kohima district. This project aims to generated income rural areas and providing food security to the economically under privileged population of Indian upland regions. "This project, the first coldwater fisheries in the state, was sanctioned by ICAR- Directorate of Coldwater Fisheries Research, Uttarakhand and executed by the states' Department of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources. It was commissioned today in the presence of Senti AO, Commissioner and Secretary for Fisheries & Aquatic Resources, Dr. R S Haldar, Nodal Officer, ICAR-DCFR NEH and Dr. Debajit Sarma, Director, ICAR-DCFR. Speaking on the occasion, Senti AO said the initiative was a perfect example of sustainable development citing that the project has the potential and prospect to deliver. He was optimistic that the trout farming will find wide support amongst the members of the community since fresh water fishing was a traditional practice that supplements the food chain of the village folks to a large extent and any activity that enhances the availability of fish in the rivers will find local acceptance and Support.
He added the topography of the village to spawn better and resilient varieties of trout will directly aid to protect and preserve the fauna of the river system. He suggested that sustainable development should involve the application of scientific technology to improve efficiency of traditional practices. The goal of this initiative is to increase the density of the fishes as well as to improve its quality so that trout farming becomes an economically viable activity, he added.
While appreciating village who has displayed a positive attitude towards innovation in livelihood issues, he further appealed the villagers to derive the maximum benefit from this initiative and to make it sustainable so that the efforts of the ICAR are not in vain. Dr. Sarma in his keynote address said the trout has been introduced for the first time in the state on trail basis for seed production arid farming of the trout. He expressed satisfaction that the demonstration was successful and appreciated the department for its effort. He informed that it was the second project undertaken by ICAR-DCFR for the state of Nagaland. The first project is Mahseer Hatchery Unit at Longkong village in Mokokchung district. Around 5000 trout bought from Kashmir were being dispensed to the newly constructed raceways. Speaking about the trout, Dr. Sarma said the fish was highly climate dependent which needs water availability and can survive only below 20 degree Celsius or cold water.
He added that the fish was also artificial feed dependent which need proper care. Trout is a coldwater fish which belongs to Salmonidae family. Both rainbow and brown trouts were introduced to Indian water by British during early 1900s. They were brought for the purpose of recreational angling in the upstream of the Himalayan region in the north and the Nilgiri Hills in the South. The Eyed ova of brown trout were first brought to India from Scotland during the early 1905. Later in 1918, steelhead strain of rainbow trout was introduced from England, and it was then propagated to different regions of India. The inaugural function was chaired by Rongsennungba, Additional Director, Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. Neitho-O Kuotsu, Deputy Director, Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources gave the brief account of the project.Vote of thanks was proposed by Ketusielie Angami, Deputy Director, Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
