Young Generation Urged To Benefit From Fishing

Young generation urged to benefit from fishing

SIALKOT, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Jan, 2025) The Fisheries Department Sialkot is trying to stop illegal fishing. Last year, the department collected Rs3,851,000 in revenue. Fisheries is a profitable field and the younger generation should benefit from it.

These views were expressed by Deputy Director (DD) Fisheries Sialkot Mrs. Azeem in an interview with APP, here today. She said, "We are trying to stop illegal fishing so that fish breeding can be increased. In illegal fishing, people often hunt and waste small fish and the production of large fish decreases."

She said that it was very important to stop illegal fishing because some people catch fish by applying current and using poisonous drugs, due to which along with big fish, small fish are also lost. "Legal action is being taken against them and our teams are raiding hunting areas on a daily basis. We are issuing licenses for fishing and fee in the district is only Rs1,000 while the fee in Punjab has been set at Rs2,000," she said.

She added, "This year we have also provided the facility of online license so that people can apply for the license and take a printout from their homes. Fish are taken from the hatcheries of the Fisheries Department and stocked in the adjacent rivers and canals so that the production deficit can be met with the passage of time.

One of the purposes of releasing fish into canals and rivers is that poor people can feed their children."

She said that fishing is banned for three months in a year (June, July and August) because this is the season for fish breeding. To a question regarding revenue, she said, "we collected Rs3,851,000 in revenue last year. Last year, we awarded contracts worth Rs2,240,500 in auctions, Rs1,527,000 in licenses and recovered Rs. 83,500 in fines for illegal fishing."

In response to another question, she said that biofloc fish farming is a modern farming method and unemployed youths can benefit from it and make it their source of income, saying that biofloc farming is an environment-friendly system and it can be started in less space.

She said that the history of fish farming is linked to the existence of man and fish is the best source of protein. The Punjab Fisheries Department has established its offices in all the districts of the province from where technical advice for fish farming is being provided free of cost. For fish farming, the department provides free technical advice for site selection, soil and water analysis, farm design and maintenance, she added.