Promotion Of Trout Farming

Uttarakhand has varied geographical distribution with 88% hilly areas and 12% plain areas. Fisheries in the state of Uttarakhand exist in the form of cold-water fisheries and fresh water fisheries. Trout is the main fish under cold water fisheries while carps and pangasius are the main fishes under fresh water fisheries.

Trout fish is perfect species for rearing in the areas of altitude above 4000 feet and trout farming is proving to be an excellent source of income generation in such remote areas. In recent years, fisheries have been adopted as the primary occupation by many people in the state through various awareness campaigns from the various schemes of the Department of Fisheries.

According to the geographical conditions of the mountainous areas, availability of land in small parts and limited water supply, more trout raceways cannot be built at one place.Keeping this in view State Integrated Cooperative Development Project has been implemented in Uttarakhand to connect individuals and societies related to fisheries with commercial farming, which are being operated through Trout Mahasangh. Under the programme cluster-based trout farming project has been implemented by the Trout Mahasangh in the hilly areas, in which a minimum of 20 trout raceways and sedimentation tanks, fish feed stores and offices are being constructed under a cluster of cooperatives. Simultaneously, fish seed and fish feed for trout farming are given to the cooperatives by the federation.