The Indian state of Orissa borders the Indian Ocean but is now casting its nets in inland waters, reports Prodeepta Das.

Over-fishing, dwindling fish stocks and beleaguered fishing fleets are not peculiar to the North Sea. India’s coastal waters suffer a similar fate. But rather than gazing longingly out to sea for a solution, authorities here have turned inwards.

Inland fishery is the new mantra, which, it is hoped, will provide valuable protein and a sound livelihood. The fish, incidentally, is one of the ten avatars (incarnations) of Hindu god, Vishnu. I visited Orissa, a state on the eastern seaboard, and home to the country’s premier fishery institute.

India is the fourth largest supplier of fish in the world and the second largest producer of freshwater fish after China. The total foreign exchange earnings from the fisheries sector reached Rs581.5 billion (£7.5 billion) in 2001- 2002. Nationwide, 10th July is celebrated annually as Fish Farmers’ Day, to focus on the contribution of the fisheries sector to the country’s economy, and to encourage and inspire the fish farmers to achieve even higher yield. It marks the day in 1957 that the Indian scientist Dr Hiralal Choudhary recorded success in induced breeding of Indian major carp.

Over 80 per cent of Orissa’s people eat fish and already inland fish catches outstrips its marine fish yields: 167.9 million metric tonnes to 113.8 in 2001-2002. This year fresh water fish production is at an all time high of 9.3 kg/ha – a rise from 6kg in 1998. And the new policy the state government is about to embrace is intended to push it to an impressive 100kg/ha. At a meeting held on 5 January 2005, the state Minister for Fisheries and Animal Resources Department, Mr Golak Naik, spelt out his government’s intention to present a comprehensive Fisheries Policy before the State Legislative Assembly by mid-2006. At present Orissa ranks sixth among Indian states in freshwater fish production, but it will not remain there long. The newfound urgency in bureaucratic circles seems to stem from belated acknowledgement that Orissa is uniquely endowed with water resources. Not only in Lake Chilika does it have the largest brackish water lake in the country, it has approaching 79,000 ha worth of ponds and reservoirs covering 2,56,000 ha. Not to mention numerous canals and rivers.

The Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA), situated near the state capital, Bhubaneswar, plays a pivotal role in popularising freshwater fish farming. Dr H K Dey, a research scientist at CIFA said, “Being funded by the Indian Council of Agriculture Research, the main thrust of the Institute is twofold: to undertake related research and disseminate information and expertise to the farmers.” The Institute is a regional lead centre in carp farming and is engaged in a range of projects funded by national and international organisations including NABARD (National Bank of Agricultural and Rural Development), UNDP and the World Bank. Its sprawling premises include several laboratories and ponds where varieties of fish are reared.

The interface between the Institute and the farmers is the satellite organisation, Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK). Its main function is the transfer of technology to the farmers, women, unemployed youth and village based extension workers. It also monitors activities and achievements at the village level. The Institute’s many ponds showcase various stages of development of fish and the idea is that the farmers can replicate the good practice found here.

The fishery cycle consists of four phases: Spawn in the hatchery (three days); fry in the nursery (15 days); fingerlings (three months) and adult fish (one year).

The village of Sarakana, about 12km from the Institute, is a particular success story. Nrusingha Panda and Batakrishna Sahu were both small farmers, dependent on growing rice in paddy fields. They were persuaded by CIFA to switch to fish farming. Mr Sahu said, “We started off with a nilami (auctioned) panchayati pond, for which we paid Rs 12,000. In the first year, we made a profit of Rs 8,000. CIFA put us in touch with the Fish Farmers Development Agency who lent us money to buy more ponds. Now we have eleven ponds. People from KVK told us how to prepare the ponds. Our income from fishery is ten times that from growing paddy and we now employ 20 labourers on a daily basis.” They have concentrated on growing carp. Each year brings three crops from each nursery. One pond produces 1,200,000 spawns with a market value of Rs60,000.

In the village of Gopa, Subhendu Ojha has never looked back since giving up rice cultivation in favour of fishery. “The returns speak for themselves,” he said. “Whereas paddy gave me Rs 8,000 a year, now I make over Rs 32,000!” Mr Ojha now owns 12 ponds, four incubating pools and one breeding pool. He, and others like him, earn a handsome income from selling fish spawn to small farmers. He generates extra income from betel nuts and bananas which he grows around the ponds. This is typical of many other fish farmers, who use the land surrounding their ponds to grow fruit and vegetables both for own use and for sale. He credits CIFA for the change of his fortune.

CIFA maintains 500 ponds where they demonstrate fishery. The processes are labour intensive but workers (including family members) are not in short supply here. Low cost groundnut oil cakes are used as fish feed. I asked Dr Sarangi, CIFA’s incumbent Director, if research at his institute is developing genetically modified varieties of fish. His answer was an emphatic ‘no’. “We are after genetically improved fish, which will have better resistance to diseases and we never use outside genes,” he pointed out.

People generally utilise existing ponds and derelict pools of water for breeding fish, but occasionally dig new ponds. It is important to start with a well prepared pond, with no other fish present. Otherwise predators can eat up the feeds intended for new fish. Fish hatcheries operate over 10 months of the year, while spawn hatcheries are active all year round. At present most of the produce is for local consumption because most of the fish farmers do not have facility for cold storage.

Many of Orissa’s traditional fisherfolk (“keotas”) are poor. They own very little, if any, land and have had to rely on seasonal work on others’ farms to eke out a living. While the new drive for freshwater fishery holds much promise for entrepreneurs, it runs the risk of further marginalising the fisherfolk, who lack business acumen and financial muscle to take advantage of the new initiative.

It is a supreme irony that Orissa is endowed with over 300 miles of coast and a wealth of inland water mass, yet a disproportionate amount of fish sold in Orissa comes from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, whose fishermen actually fish off the coast of Orissa. Moneyed fish farmers of Andhra Pradesh realise that moving into Orissa to grow fish would substantially eliminate much of the cost of transportation and augment their profit, reducing production by about a third.

Dr Sarangi feels the new drive holds much promise for a mini social revolution: “The provision of microfinance could lift the local fisherfolk from the poverty line. The NGOs could mobilise to remove the middlemen who have historically exploited them, paying derisory sums for their catch as well as easing access to funds and technical help. The benefits of CIFA and KVK then could reach the needy.” Properly utilised, Orissa’s water mass could provide affordable fish protein to its people as well as a decent income for fishermen and women.