Discussions were held on policy-level intervention and creating awareness among the fishermen towards Hilsa conservation
The ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, Kolkata recently organised a webinar on ’Sensitization on Hilsa Fisheries Conservation and Livelihood Improvement in River Ganga’. More than 100 participants from India, Bangladesh and Myanmar attended the webinar. The webinar was organised as a part of the ’Bharat Ka Amrut Mahotsav’ to commemorate 75 Years of India’s Independence.
In his welcome address, Dr BK Das, Director, ICAR-CIFRI, Barrackpore briefed about the Hilsa Research and Awareness Programmes carried out at the institute since the last decade. Dr Das highlighted the impact of Farakka Barrage on the Hilsa migration, mess size regulations, over-fishing and juvenile killing that are the major challenges for Hilsa fisheries in river Ganga.
Dr YS Yadava, Director, Bay of Bengal Programme Inter-Governmental Organization (BOBPIGO), Chennai discussed the ’BOBP-IGO’s efforts towards Hilsa Fisheries conservation and sustainability: Indian perspective.’ He highlighted the Indian National Plan of Action (NPOA) for Hilsa.
In his Paper on ’Hilsa Conservation and Livelihoods Improvement of Fishers: Case Studies from Bangladesh,’ Prof Abdul Wahab, Team Leader of Ecofish, WorldFish, Bangladesh outlined the significant results obtained through the community participation, intensive public awareness, provision of government schemes as an alternative during the ban period of Hilsa catch and strict surveillance and enforcement.
Dr Mike Akester, Region Director, South East Asia and the Pacific, WorldFish, Myanmar discussed the ’Fiscal reforms to finance incentive-based Hilsa Fishery Management in Myanmar.’
The main objectives of the webinar were to conserve Hilsa fisheries in river Ganga through policy-level intervention and create awareness among the fishermen towards Hilsa conservation.
