Kolkata: The state Fisheries department has decided to cultivate three new fish varieties at Henry Island, near Bakkhali in South 24-Parganas.
Senior officials of the State Fisheries Development Corporation (SFDC) recently visited Vizag and in a series of meetings, finalised procurement of fish seeds from the southern part of the country to kick off the cultivation process.
"We are hopeful that the fish-loving Bengalis can relish these three fishes by the end of this year," said B K Mondal, joint director of Fisheries. The seeds will be reaching the state soon by air from Chennai airport. The three fish varieties include Indian Pompano, Groupers and Penaeus Indicus (a prawn variety).
The SFDC will be procuring 5000 fish seeds, each for Indian Pompano and Groupers and 5 lakh seeds for Penaeus Indicus.
The seeds for the first two will be procured from Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) in Pune, while that of the prawn variety will be brought from Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA), Chennai.
Rani Kumudini, Chief Executive of National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) said in a meeting in Vizag that Bengal should be given fish seeds as per their demand. "Her strong pitch for Bengal has been instrumental in bagging the deal for Penaeus Indicus," a SFDC official said.
The fishes will be made available from our fish selling unit at Nalban Food Park and through our smart fish-selling app. The Indian Pompano, which belongs to the fast-growing Carangid family, has a great demand in Andhra Pradesh, especially due to its good meat quality and nutritious value. It tastes more or less the same as the Pomfret variety but will be available at a lesser price.
During the recent programme in Vizag, SFDC for the first time participated in a fish festival there and served mouth-watering fish items ranging from Hilsa Biriyani, Hilsa Paturi, Fish Paturi, Fish Finger to name a few. "We have had a huge response with sales of around Rs 1.60 lakh and everyone had appreciated the food that was dished out," the SFDC official said. Some 500 fish farmers from different parts of the state participated in the two-day Fish Festival.