No sales : Trout in trouble

District Officer Fisheries Abrar Ahmed says there are 92 privately owned trout farms in Swat

PESHAWAR:

The past four months of Covid-19 have weighed heavy on many industries and sectors, causing great financial losses, closure of business and mass unemployment.

However, the latest to suffer is Swat’s trout industry, which fears loss of more than 400 tonnes of trout fish and an estimated Rs60,000,000 in damages amid coronavirus restrictions this season. According to Swat Trout Fish Farming Association, there are two public and more than 150 trout farms across Swat, with an estimated 400,000 kilograms of trout at present. There is wide held apprehension that the ban on arrival of tourists and the closure of hotels and restaurants in the area might prove fetal for the fish and the industry at large.

“It takes 14 months for trout to be ready for sale and a healthy adult fish can weigh up to 250 grams. But after that, the fish start getting old, losing weight and become increasingly susceptible to diseases,” shared a fish farmer.

“Trout sales in Swat usually begin from March onwards. But so far, we haven’t made any sales due the Covid-19 induced restrictions and it is feared that if situations persist, it could lead to the fish dying in the pond,” he added.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, District Officer Fisheries Abrar Ahmed shared that there are 92 privately owned trout farms in Swat; each with a capacity of 2,500 to 10,000 kilograms of trout. This makes the total production of these farms near 400,000 grams, valued between Rs 50 to Rs 80 million. In addition to that, there is also a Swat-era government hatchery on Cheel Road in the tourist hotspot of Madin.

Cage farms introduced to boost fish production

Last year, as per hatchery in-charge Jaffar Yahya, trout sales from the government hatchery alone amounted to a whooping Rs 8.5 million, but with virus restrictions still in place, the chances of any profit appear less than slim this season. Addressing estimated losses to the sector, Swat Trout Fish Farming Association Secretary Usman Ali said that trout is priced around Rs150 per kilogram in the region.

“In large farms, the fish are fed at an annual cost of approximately Rs3,000,000. If the government continues to maintain closure of tourism for another month, over 400 tonnes of fish worth more than Rs60,000,000 will be at the risk of expiry.”

On the other hand, the Covid-19 induced restrictions have not only put the fish farms at risk but also the thousands of people whose livelihoods are dependent on the industry. According to association secretary, Swat’s trout farms employ over 1,500 people, out of which some 1,400 have already been laid off due to the lack of work.

Fish in high demand as winter approaches

In addition to that, most major hotels from Peshawar to Karachi were also supplied with trout from Swat. But since the supply has been cut off due to the closure of hotels across the country, hundreds of other people, who worked in and supplied fish to these hotels have also been severely affected by the ongoing restrictions.

“Furthermore, since there has been no sale of fish this year and ponds are still over-packed, trout farmers haven’t had the chance to buy fish larva for the coming season. It requires 14 months for the fish to mature, hence when these fish die, the damage is resultantly going trickle beyond 2020 and trout is likely to be in short supply across the country next year as well,” Ali warned.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2020.