Himachal to boost sport-fish farming in Kol Dam reservoir

To boost fish farming in Himachal Pradesh, the state government has decided to take up sports-fish breeding and stocking in Kol Dam reservoir in Bilaspur district by next year.

The state Fisheries Department would stock seeds of sport-fishes like the mahseer to attract anglers from India and abroad to promote high-end tourism in the reservoir, the government said on Sunday.

At present, the common carp, the silver carp and the grass carp fish species are being reared in man-made water body.

The department proposes to start sports fisheries in 1,302 hectares pondage falling in four districts -- Bilaspur, Solan, Mandi and Shimla by setting up angling huts in Kol dam reservoir.

In 2018-19, the Kol Dam reservoir recorded highest 5.595 metric tonnes fish production, while in 2017-18, 3.105 metric tonnes fish production was recorded.

The state government has fixed a target of nine metric tonnes for 2019-20 and so far has registered record fish production of 7.045 metric tonnes.

In 2018-19, themaximum price of fish per kg was recorded at Rs 101 in Kol dam.

In order to address the problem of displacement for families who lost their lands in construction of Kol Dam, the state has created livelihood opportunities for displaced families through commercial fish production and has set up five cooperative societies for the commercial production of fisheries potential.A

At present, over 350 fishermen have been engaged in production of fish from Kol Dam to derive their livelihood.

The Fisheries Department has created three fish landing centres in the reservoir at Kol in Bilaspur district, Beral in Solan district and atASunni in Shimla district A. IANS