A roadmap will be drafted for fisheries and aquaculture development in Ladakh with practical solutions and location-specific strategies
ICAR-Directorate of Coldwater Fisheries Research recently met to develop aquaculture and fisheries in the high-altitude cold desert of Ladakh.
Sagar Mehra, Joint Secretary (Inland Fisheries), Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying along with Dr Pramod Kumar Pandey, Director, ICAR-DCFR, Bhimtal, Uttarakhand and his team visited Ladakh.
In a joint meeting with the concerned higher officials, Radha Krishna Mathur, Lieutenant Governor, Ladakh emphasised the capacity building, sustainable development of aquaculture, conservation of endemic aquatic biodiversity, ornamental fisheries and strong cooperation between the stakeholders.
During the Stakeholders’ Convergence Meeting with the Research & Developmental Organizations and Fish Farmers in Ladakh, Dr Pandey briefed about the directorate’s aquaculture technologies and biodiversity conservation priorities for the development of fisheries in Ladakh.
On their visit to the Pangong Tso Lake, the Directorate’s scientific team collected the baseline limnological data and recorded fish (Triplophysa spp.) and aquatic invertebrate specimens that inhabit this high altitude Brackishwater Lake. The team also visited all the functional government and private fish farms in Leh, Nubra valley, Kargil and Drass including those in the border villages of Ladakh.
The information collected during the visit will be utilised to draft the roadmap for fisheries and aquaculture development in Ladakh with practical solutions and location-specific strategies. This would enable the policies and action plans to effectively boost fish production and conservation under the flagship PMMSY Scheme.
The directorate has been vested with the responsibility for exploring and formulating a realistic roadmap to sustainably harness the potential of fisheries and aquaculture for providing the nutritional security and livelihood for the tribal population inhabiting the harsh high-altitude cold arid regions of Ladakh.
