Imoinu festival fish fair on the cards
Source: Chronicle News Service / DIPR
Imphal, October 26 2022:
The annual Fish Fair cum Fish Crop Competition-2022, organised by Department of Fishery in connection with Ningol Chakkouba festival, was held at Hapta Kangjeibung, Palace Compound, here, on Wednesday.
Speaking on the occasion, fisheries minister Heikham Dingo informed that Fishery Department has been playing a big role to provide the staple diet sufficiently in the state; Out of the 52,000 metric tonne of fish required for consumption, the department was able to produce 32,000 MT in 2019 .
Even now, the government has been focusing on production of fish in consultation with experts from other parts of the country and soon it will be able to produce 50,000 MT, he assured.
The minister also stated that a pilot project taken up under the initiative of Chief Minister to produce Meetei Sareng (catfish species) has yielded success.
The department has been able to produce Sareng weighing 3.5 kg, which has been reared from previous year.
However, owing to problems faced in procurement of fingerlings this year, Sareng weighing above 1kg has been produced mainly for the fair, he conveyed.
Pointing out that the fish fair is organised only at the time of Ningol Chakkouba festival, Dingo said that the department will make arrangements for organise another fish fair during Imoinu Iratpa.
He further said that for making Ngari (fermented fish), the department is targeting to increase the yield of locally available Phabounga (Pool Barb) instead of procuring fishes from other states.
The minister then appealed to all stakeholders to extend support and cooperate to the Fishery department and help in increasing fish yield of the state.
He also appealed to the fishermen to refrain from adopting harmful practices while catching fish.
In his speech, Fisheries director H Balkrishna Singh said that the fair is being organised by the department for the 44th time.
This time, 115 stalls were set up with participation of around 200 fish farmers.
He then informed that that 28 cash rewards will be handed to the winners of the Fish Crop Competition.
Stating that the depart ment targeted to produce 1,00,000 kg of indigenous fishes for the fair, the director informed that for the first time, more than 3000 kg of locally produced fresh Sareng has been put up for sale in the fair this year.
MANIDCO chairman MLA Kongkham Robindro Singh, MLA Sanasam Premchandra Singh, officials of Fishery Department and fish farmers from all the districts also attended the programme.
Aside from Sareng, other fish varieties such as Katai, Rohu, Common Carp, Pengba, Khabak, Ngaton, Ukabi and Tunghanbi were also made available to the people during the fair.