What happened

The Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has issued Model Guidelines for the Development of Cold Water Fisheries to help States develop coldwater fisheries and linked infrastructure. The guidelines are meant to support production, value addition and marketing of commercially important species such as Rainbow Trout, Golden Mahseer and Snow Trout.

The Ministry said the guidelines cover raceways, Recirculatory Aquaculture Systems (RAS), hatcheries, feed mills, disease prevention and market linkages. The Department also notified four clusters for cold water fisheries development in Anant Nag district in Jammu and Kashmir, Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand, Kargil district in Ladakh and Kullu district in Himachal Pradesh.

Background and earlier position

The Department of Fisheries has been implementing Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) as a flagship scheme with an investment of Rs 20,050 crore across States and Union Territories. PMMSY is intended to address gaps in fish production, productivity, quality, technology, post-harvest infrastructure, value-chain modernisation, traceability, fisheries management and fishers’ welfare.

The Ministry has also been implementing the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF) with a fund size of Rs 7,522.48 crore from financial year 2018-19 to reduce infrastructure gaps in fisheries and aquaculture. These two instruments provide the policy and financing base for cold water fisheries projects.

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