Fish farming: Dept plans to embrace intensive culture

DG says 93 million seeds being provided to 9,000 farms

LAHORE: Fisheries Director General Muhammad Ayub said on Friday that 17 government-owned hatcheries and 30 small nurseries had been providing 93 million fish seeds across 9,000 private fish farms.

Ayub made the remarks while speaking to pressmen at his office. He said 92,000 metric tonnes fish was produced across the farms per annum. Ayub said the supply of fish seeds produced at the department’s hatcheries was not confined to private fish farms in the province. He said seeds were also provided to farms situated in Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The DG said the department had been planning to embrace an intensive fish farming culture to overcome the challenges posed by paucity of water bodies. He said this would ensure that the greatest amount of fish production could be realised from the least amount of water employed.

Ayub said the department disseminated information and instructed fish farmers in this regard in training courses. The DG said scores of private hatcheries had been set up in the province due to the department’s concerted efforts. He said their establishment had resulted in a myriad of job opportunities besides satisfying the demand for fish.

The DG said the department had been striving to set up an export processing zone in south Punjab through a public-private partnership model.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th, 2015.