Fishing banned in Assam till July 31

Guwahati, May 9 (UNI) The fish crazy Assamese will now have to survive on fish from Andhra as the Assam Government has completely banned fishing in the state till July 31 to protect the mature fishes during its annual hatching season.

Assam's annual fish production is around 1.75 lakh tonnes against the total demand of 2.95 lakh tonnes. With the supply for local fish getting dried up, the importers are trying to meet the huge gap in the demand of the market.

'' We have decided to ban it till July 31 to protect the fishes in their hatching season. The fish production has been declining and our dependence on the imported fish is growing because we do not allow the fishing during the peak period,'' said Assam Fishery Minister Nurjamal Sarkar.

The fishing experts are also of the opinion that fishing during the hatching season as well as use of small plastic net has destroyed the fish population in the rivers and ponds of Assam as the fishermen pick up the smallest fishlings also.

All the district fishery offices have been asked to keep vigil so that fishing can be banned. Especially various kinds of nets have been completely prohibited, Mr Sarkar said.

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