Gujarat plans aqua culture push

The Government of Gujarat has chalked out a mega plan for aqua culture development, concentrating on south Gujarat to increase the production of the prawn variety of fishes.

The state government aims to allocate about 50,000 hectare land among the fisherman and other organised agencies to achieve about 67,000 to 70,000 tonne of production. It also aims to enhance exports to Rs 1,800 crore by the year 2010.

The fisheries department of the state government is planning to set up a laboratory for quality assurance, a processing unit, feed mill unit and hatcheries to support the overseas trade activities. The proposed project is likely to take shape over the next three years.

Gujarat had exported 1.20 lakh metric tonne fishes, worth Rs 704.69 crore during the fiscal 2004-05. The state has about 3.76 lakh hectare land, which can be utilised for aqua-culture development.

"The state of Gujarat has a promising potential to cultivate prawns in brackish water. It is over a decade old project, but we are becoming aggressive in allotting the land to the individual fishermen as well as co-operatives and private parties. So far, we have already handed over 3700 hectare land, for a 15-year lease period, which can be renewed again. We want to allocate about 50,000 hectare land in next five years," said Y A Trivedi, joint commissioner of fisheries, government of Gujarat.

The department has given powers to the district collectors, to allocate up to five hectare land to a fisherman. The fishermen co-operatives and private players are eligible for 50 and 100 hectare land respectively, after an approval from state-level committee.

The department, charges a token amount from the fisherman or organised player. "We are receiving good response from the private players and have about 500 applications on hand for loans and other assistance for aqua culture activities. Fishermen will also get buyers for their produces without any assistance once the fisheries is ready," said Trivedi.