Jhapa. The annual production of fish has increased in Koshi Province. The production has also increased with the increase in the area of fish farming. However, the production according to consumption is not enough.

Carp and pangas are the two main types of fish reared commercially by farmers and companies. Parbati Limbu, fisheries development officer at the Directorate of Livestock and Fisheries Development, said that the area and production of both types of fisheries have increased.

In the fiscal year 2081/82 BS, 2,442 hectares of land in the province had been cultivated by constructing ponds. Earlier, only 2,016 hectares of land was under fish farming in the fiscal year 2080/81 BS, he said.

The production of carp fish has increased. The fish production was 9,377 metric tonnes in fy 2080/81 and increased to 11,076 metric tonnes in FY 2081/82.

Both production and fish farming area of another variety of fish, Pangas, have also increased. According to the Directorate of Livestock and Fisheries Development, 3,399 metric tonnes of pangas fish were produced in koshi state in the fiscal year 2081/82 BS. In the fiscal year 2080/81, only 2,366 metric tons of fish was produced.

According to the directorate’s data, the number of ponds reared in the province was 413 in the fiscal year 2081/82 and only 405 in the fiscal year 2080/81. The area under this cultivation was 110 hectares in the fiscal year 2081/82 and 78 hectares in the fiscal year 2080/81.

However, the fishing of rainbow trout, which is reared in clean water flowing in the mountains, has decreased. According to the Directorate, this fish was reared in 43 ponds in the fiscal year 2080/81, which has come down to 29 in the fiscal year 2081/82.

Although the Koshi state government has been emphasizing on fish farming, it has not been able to increase production to meet the need. Fish Development Officer Limbu said that 11 kg 500 grams of fish is consumed annually per person in the state.

He said that the availability of production was 1 kg 800 grams per person annually in fy 2080/81 and 2 kg 260 grams in FY 2081/82. There is still a compulsion to depend on fish imported from India as the production has not been increased according to the consumption in the state. Fish farming has been carried out in 56 wetland ponds of Koshi State.