The severe drought this year has hit inland fisheries hard across the State as tanks and lakes are drying up. Officials in the Directorate of Fisheries say both production and sowing of inland fish have reduced by around 30% this year. Across the districts, fish production target reached only 65% and fingerling sowing has not crossed 70% of the target.
“There are four months to go before the fishing year 2023-24 is completed. But the production is very discouraging till now,’‘ said a senior officer. The monthly figures indicate that farmers have been able to release only around 60 crore fingerlings as against the target of around 90 crore. “Production till now is around four lakh tonnes, as against the target of around 5.5 lakh tonnes,’‘ according to the officer.
This has affected the livelihood of a large number of fishing families across the State. The tank fishing families are usually poorer, have less investment and infrastructure. Their condition is similar to the small farmers. Any reduction in output affects them more than the bigger, more established fishing families or societies,’‘ said Altaf Soudagar, who supplies tank fish to local markets and to markets in eastern Indian States.
