Fish of Rs 3,33,65,760 value sold on Ningol Chakouba eve

Imphal: A total of around Rs 3,33,65,760 were sold during the 44th Fish Fair cum Fish Crop Competition, 2022, which was held in connection with the Ningol Chakouba Festival, was one of the biggest achievement of Fishery department and a similar fish fair will be organised in connection with Emoinu celebration, said Fishery minister, Heikham Dingo on Thursday.

The minister was speaking to reporters at his office, here on Thursday.

He said the department expected 1 lakh Kg from the local fish farmers. However, by exceeding 27,727 Kg of fish, a total of 1,27,727 Kg of fishes were produced during the fair.

The chief minister’s pilot project of local Sareng (Wallago Attu) were also produced during the recent fish fair, he added.

To promote the local fish, department of fisheries will also open stalls during the upcoming Sangai festival where any fish farmer or any individuals can get information regarding the government schemes on rearing of fish and others, he added.

Fisheries director H. Balkrishna Singh said during the recent fish fair the rate of fishes were fixed by the department after concerning the public in masses with affordable rates reduced from the local market rate. He said during the fish fair ‘Sareng’ upto the weights of 3 Kg were sold to the public.

Balkrishna had clarified earlier Sareng weighing 3.5 to 4 Kg have been kept for pisciculture purposes. Regarding the high cost of fresh Sareng which was at Rs 1,200 per Kg, he had explained that the fingerlings of Sareng were exported from Yangoon (Burma) and its maintenance is very high as it feeds on live fish.

Though people expected to see full-grown Sareng in the size of 3.5-4 kgs during the fish fair, they witness Sareng weighing 700 gm – 1Kg only. Moreover, with the high price of Sareng and smaller in size people were disappointed with the price as compared with iced pack Sareng imported from outside the state.

Balkrishna said the rewards of winners of 44th Fish Fair cum Fish Crop Competition, 2022 will be distributed on July 10 next year, which is the National Fish Farmers’ day.