Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal on August 13 directed the fishery department to prepare an assessment report of the required quantity of fish in the state for gaining a clear picture about the potential of the market.

Distributing the appointment letters to junior engineers of the department, the CM said that the centre’s Act East Policy has opened a window of opportunity for the state fish producers to gain access to South East Asian market.

“Fishery sector has immense potential and we must vigorously engage in it for deriving maximum benefits. Assam is blessed with abundant water resources and we have the capacity to become biggest producer and exporter of fish in the country. But for that, we must adopt latest scientific technologies for augmenting our production,” said Sonowal.

The CM also asked the new appointees to spend a night with the fishermen and the fish producers for understanding their difficulties and challenges.

Appreciating the department for being able to increase the state’s fish production by 20,000 metric tonne in 2017-18 from the previous year, Sonowal said that chief minister’s Samagra Grammya Unnayan Yojna (CMSGUY), a scheme to transform the rural economy with a budget outlay of Rs 33,000 crore, has also kept fishery as a priority area.

Minister for fishery department Parimal Suklabaidya said that NABARD has approved a package of Rs 100 crore for 1,000 hectares of fisheries of individual owners and even if the fish export into the state is totally stopped, the state has the capacity to meet the requirement with its own production.

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Avatar photo
About TNM NewsDesk

-

The News Mill is a Guwahati-based digital media with focus on content from across Northeast India and beyond. We can be reached through [email protected]