The National Fisheries Development Board will set up its regional centre in Assam at an initial investment of Rs 50 crore, which among other facilities will have a state-of-the-art Brood Bank that would be a game changer for the fishery sector in the entire northeastern region. Assam fishery minister Parimal Suklabaidya in his announcement on Twitter said, With the first initiative towards the establishment of regional center for National Fisheries Development Board, Northeast India & especially Assam moves a step closer to take the production, trade & research for the development of the sector to another level. He also tweeted that state cabinet on Wednesday has approved 30 bigha of government land at Amingaon for setting up this regional centre. Commissioner and secretary of the state fishery department Rakesh Kumar said that this centre in the state will be the second of its kind focusing on fresh water fish species after Odisha. This proposal has been lying since 2014 but due to persistent follow-ups from this government, we are all set to have the regional centre of National Fisheries Development Board here, Kumar said. He said that hatcheries here at present do not have good quality of seeds and are not resistant to many diseases as a result of which mortality rate is very high. With this centre coming up, we will get a state-of-the-art brood bank that will offer quality seeds, which means quality products. This is going to change the entire scenario in fishery sector not just in Assam, also in entire northeastern region, he said. He added that the centre will also benefit the fish farmers in a big way by providing training on new techniques as well as demonstrations. Initially National Fisheries Development Board will invest Rs 50 crore and they will start work as soon as the state government issues the notification, Kumar said. For long the primary focus of the Hyderabad-based National Fisheries Development Board has been on coastal states having coastal fisheries only.