The Ministry of Agriculture has envisaged a program to unlock the country’s ornamental fisheries sector through a special drive with a total outlay of Rs. 61.89 crore. Fishcopfed- the apex body of fisheries cooperatives does not find any mention in this project.
The pilot project on ornamental fisheries shall be implemented by the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) through the Fisheries Departments of States/UTs.
Cooperators connected with Fishcopfed said if the govt gives even 20 per cent of what it gives to National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) we can come up with better results in a time bound manner.
Fishcopfed MD B K Mishra says “Fishery cooperative is a representation of real fishers who contribute substantially to blue revolution. FISHCOPFED has four offices among the eight states as mentioned. But we have active fisheries federations in other states also.
“The federation needs to be strengthened through policy and financial support to take up any responsibility in fisheries sector”, Mishra underlined.
Implementation of the pilot-scale Ornamental Fisheries Project focuses mainly on creating an enabling environment
for a sustainable and holistic development of Ornamental Fisheries for the socio-economic development of the people involved in this activity as well as for exports.
A total of 8 potential States have been identified- Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Ornamental fishery deals with breeding and rearing of coloured fish of both freshwater and marine water. About 400 species of marine ornamental fishes and 375 freshwater ornamental varieties are available in various parts of our country.
Though ornamental fisheries do not directly contribute to the food and nutritional security, it generates livelihood and income.
