Report of a training on ‘Scientific fishery management of floodplain wetlands (beels)’ organized by ICAR-CIFRI RC, Guwahati during December 18-19, 2017.
A two-day training programme on Scientific fishery management of floodplain wetlands (beels) was organized by ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Regional Centre, Guwahati and Assam Fisheries Development Corporation Ltd., Guwahati during Dec. 18-19, 2017 at the Centre. Assam covers the largest area (100,817 ha) under floodplain wetlands (locally called beels) in India. The beels are highly productive fishery resource amenable to capture fisheries of indigenous fishes as well as for fisheries enhancement. The ICAR-CIFRI has estimated the fish production potential of beels at 1,000-1,500 kg/ha/y. The Institute has developed management guidelines for conservation of the resource and its indigenous fishes as well as for enhancing their fish production through various enhancement options like control of aquatic macrophytes, maintaining riverine connection, supplementary stocking, introduction of species, pen and cage culture and so on. The present average fish production from the beels of Assam under AFDC Ltd. increased to 221 kg/ha/y for unstocked beels and 450 kg/ha/y for stocked beels from the average production of 173 kg/ha/y estimated by ICAR-CIFRI.
The training programme was organized to train field level officials of AFDC Ltd. so that they are updated about management modules/ technologies developed by ICAR-CIFRI for conservation and optimization of fish production from the beels of Assam.
Dr. Dhruba Jyoti Sarma, Liaison Officer, AFDC Ltd. welcomed the field assistants posted in different districts of Assam (30 nos.). He explained the background and objectives of the training programme. The training programme was inaugurated by Shri S. K. Das, ACS, Managing Director, AFDC Ltd. He emphasized on capacity building of field staff of the Corporation to enhance their knowledge level on fisheries for meeting the challenges of the future. Dr. B. K. Bhattacharjya, Head of Regional Centre urged the trainees to promote scientific management of the beels of Assam for enhancement of their fish production as well as to conserve indigenous fishes. Shri P. K. Hazarika, Technical Manager, AFDC Ltd. stated that both the ICAR-CIFRI and AFDC Ltd. have been working towards achieving sustainable fish production from beel fisheries of Assam as a result of which fish production from the beels under the Corporation has increased considerably over the years. Renowned fisheries scientists and technical staff of ICAR-CIFRI including Dr. S. Yengkokpam, Dr. D. Debnath, Dr. P. Das, Shri A. K. Yadav, Ms. Niti Sharma, Mr. Simanku Borah, Mr. N. S. Singh, Mr. B. C. Ray, Mr. A. Kakati and senior officials of the Department of Fisheries including Dr. Sanjay Sarma, FDO acted as resource persons. Dr. N. R. Chattopadhyay and Dr. S. K. Manna, renowned fisheries scientists from Kolkata also addressed the function.
In the two-day programme, scientists of ICAR-CIFRI dealt with basic concepts of beel fisheries, scientific management modules for beel fisheries, enclosure aquaculture technologies, fish nutrition & feed technology, common fish diseases & their remedial measures, fish seed production, soil & water quality management and scientific record keeping of beel fisheries. Officers from the AFDC Ltd. (Mr. P. K. Hazarika, Dr. D. J. Sarma, Mr. D. Pame) dealt with various provisions of Fishery Act of Assam and official procedures/ administrative matters. The participants of the training programme expressed that the programme was highly beneficial for their capacity building in beel fisheries management and sustainable utilization.
