India's first fish hospital to come up in Bengal

, Aug 13: India's first hospital to treat diseased

and offer solutions to farmers will come up in

by mid-2015, an official said Wednesday.

The construction of an initial setup with 25 water tanks to house affected fish is nearing completion, said T.J. Abraham, fish microbiologist at West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences (WBUAFS).

"This will be the first of its kind in India...," Abraham told IANS.

Funded by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the project aims to increase fish production in Bengal by improving management practices. The current yield is around 15 lakh tonne annually.

"More than 20 percent of the fish production is affected by poor management practices which lead to stress in the organisms and as a result they are afflicted with a variety of diseases. We will provide various interventions," he said.

Another facet of the venture is a database of diseases.

"We are working on an inventory of fish diseases for the last two years which will help predict outbreaks," he said.

IANS