Fish production through aquaculture should be increased substantially as wild catch is declining, Fisheries Minister Saji Cherian has said. He was speaking at an awareness programme on aquaculture organised by the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) here on Sunday. The Minister said there was great potential for aquaculture and those opportunities should be utilised.
The programme on aquaculture awareness among farmers was organised under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY). Around 40 farmers from across the State participated in the one-day programme, organised jointly by the Union and State fisheries departments with the support of the National Cooperative Development Corporation.
The KUFOS had, in a recent set of recommendations, said environmental and health concerns in fisheries and aquaculture should be addressed and there was an increasing need to use modern technologies to boost the environmental sustainability of aquaculture through targeted interventions.
The recommendations said there were constraints in the regulation of shrimp aquaculture in the country and specific policies needed to be framed to judiciously utilise the aquatic environment. One of the pointed references related to the checks on “misuse of chemicals”. The KUFOS had also said disease monitoring should be made more extensive and more environment-friendly while microbial bioremediation techniques should be adopted to maintain soil and water quality.
The university had also called for adherence to legislations and regulations to prevent the spread of fish diseases and to establish standardised system of disease testing.
