Himachal imports Scandinavian trout strain

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HimVani

Shimla (July 27): In order to bring snowline areas of Himachal Pradesh under aquaculture, a Scandinavian trout strain has been imported by the department of fishery to improve the economy of people living in far-flung areas having enormous potential for breeding cold water fishes.

Department in charge at Patlikuhl trout farm in district Kullu, Dr Khem Singh Thakur, told HimVani that they have introduced ‘Arctic Chhar,’ a new species of trout after importing its seeds from Denmark under the Indo-Norway Trout Project. “As river Beas and Parvati have enormous potential to culture trout in running clear and cold water, the project is aimed at introducing new species of trout to further cover the snow line areas in Kullu, Lahaul-Spiti, Chamba and Kinnaur districts. 15,000 eggs of Arctic Chhar have been imported from Denmark to be developed in hatcheries.

The official said that 5000 eggs each were under breeding at the Indo-Norway Trout Farm at Sangla in Kinnuar, Patlikuhl in Kullu and Holi in Chamba. Currently ‘Rainbow’ and ‘Brown’ trout are produced in the state, mostly confined to Kullu district alone. Rainbow fetches Rs 250 per kilogram in the local market, mostly centered in Chandigarh, Delhi, Mumbai and Goa, etc. Brown or golden trout is mostly used for angling by the tourists and are not commercial used due to low production. The
department gives entry to tourists at 45 places for trout angling.

Currently Kullu district is the major production center for trout having 100 tonne annual production, engaging about 50 fish farmers and 300 fishermen who gather
fishes from the open water bodies after laying fishnets.

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