Farming the Fish: Cold Water Fishery in Kashmir (E)
The Kashmir Valley is gifted with extraordinary beauty in the form of wondrous landscapes, snow clad mountains, pine & deodar forests, lush fresh water springs and ice-cold gushing rivers and beautiful lakes. All these water bodies come under cold-water resources to support the cold-water fishery culture in Kashmir. Wular, Dal and Manasbal Lakes are famous all over Jammu & Kashmir for fish species such as Common carp, Amur carp and the Schizothorax species or trout. With human encroachments and climate change many of these fish species are endangered. At the same time rearing and protecting these fish and some other new varieties has the potential to increase the income of those engaged in fish farming. It is for this reason that the Government of India has started an important programme - Mission Coldwater Fisheries Development Action Plan to enhance the food and employment security of rural and urban areas of hill states. This is part of the larger mission to double farmer incomes across the country. So in this episode of Science for a self-reliant Our team travelled to the valley of Kashmir to visit some unique cold-water fish cultivation and rearing research stations of the country, to explore and witness how scientific research and management tools are being used to give a boost to cold water fishery in the country. These include the National Fish Seed and National Fish Feed Farm and also J&K’s first Aqua Clinic for Fish So lets begin this fascinating journey.
