Trout card: Fish farms, hatchery to be set up in Mansehra )

MANSEHRA: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Fisheries Department on Friday decided to establish a trout hatchery and five fish farms in Siran valley to enhance production of trout and promote tourism in the area.

According to the fisheries department, every fish farm would produce 750 kilogrammes of trout fish every year and more than 100,000 juvenile trout would be released into the Siran River during a five-year period.

The fisheries department has also decided to impose heavy fines and jail sentences for illegal fishing, particularly when using illegal means such as poisoning, electrocution, and chemicals.

While inaugurating the project, Mansehra District Nazim Sardar Said Ghulam released 10,000 juvenile trout in the Siran River at Nawazabad. Trout hatchery and farms would also help enhance business opportunities for local people and promote tourism in the area.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2016.