“The fisheries industry had a bit of a hard time early on since there was a lockdown. Then we overcame that difficulty,” stated Chandranath Sinha, Minister in Charge, Fisheries Department, Government of West Bengal, in an exclusive tete-a-tete with UNI.
Q What are the main challenges and crisis Fisheries sector is facing post lockdown scenario and what is your take to get rid of it?
A. The fisheries industry had a bit of a hard time early on since there was a lockdown. Then we overcame that difficulty, and everything happened including seeding of the fish-lings. The fear that was there in the initial period, I hope is no more.
Q.West Bengal Government is supposed to train fishermen to minimise sinking of fishing trawlers related accidents. How many fishermen have been trained to date?
A.The training procedure has not started yet, it has started from this month i.e.December. We will start giving training in every district.
Q. Sundarban Development Minister Manturam Pakhira earlier stated that fishermen sailing trawlers without life jacket should lead the cancellation of trawler license. Have you already started doing so?
A. No, this system has not been launched yet. We earlier had tender for the life jacket but sadly the quality mismatched our desired standard. So we have to cancel it. That’s why the life jacket project is still pending.
Q. State Government started selling fish directly to the counter during the lockdown. Which districts are now effectively doing so and which districts are under the scanner to implement the same? How many vehicles you have on board now?
A. The project is going on but we have not yet reached all the districts. It is still on at the Kolkata level and these are all running from SFDC (State Fisheries Development Corporation) and Benfish Corners. Besides, the co-operatives are selling by themselves through counters. There is a lot of demand for it. Also, Benfish and SFDC are supplying products with orders through their online app. All these are going on at Kolkata level. We recently signed an MoU on the PPE model with Benfish to cater the requirement of Greater Kolkata, specifically on Barasat, Barrackpore, Dankuni and Baruipur area. 25 stalls are being set up for these areas so that if anyone orders raw fish, processed fish or fried fish items, they will get that delivered. After that, we want to reach other districts gradually. Benfish has 25-30 cars. SFDC also has about 25-30 cars. We also have a PPE model with a company called S B Agri Industries so that they will have 25 stalls which will be inaugurated on December 25.
Q. How much effective it turns through SFDC mobile app? How much employment has been generated through this home delivery scheme?
A. Yes, there has been employment generation, of course, but we do not do it directly, it has been given to third parties. It is very difficult to say the exact number of people they hired.
Q. How much boost in consumption have you seen after organising Fish Festival at Nalban?
A. We have done it every year. And the demand for fish has increased a lot, as a result, is for sure. You may have seen earlier that in most of the restaurants fish were not on the menu list. And now you will see that people are earning from many exclusively fish restaurants. People are consuming more fish.
Q. Do you think the insurance industry has a great role to play in the development of fisheries sector? Does the government have any plan to tie up with any insurance sector player?
A. Yes, they still have insurance. Even so, in case of an accident or death, we pay the claimants. Most of our people had insurance. Besides with this, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recently announced the ‘Swasthya Sathi’ and we are very happy with it. As a result, everyone fell under the one insurance criteria. Fishermen are the poorest part of the people and they are all very happy with ‘Swasthya Sathi’.
Q. Is West Bengal fisheries industry is affected by bottom trawling? (Bottom trawling is trawling along the seafloor. It is also referred to as “dragging”. The scientific community divides bottom trawling into benthic trawling and demersal trawling. Benthic trawling is towing a net at the very bottom of the ocean and demersal trawling is towing a net just above the benthic zone)
A. These are not in our hands, it is entirely in the hands of the Central Government. Whenever there was a meeting or discussion, we informed or sent letters repeatedly so that this bottom trawling can be stopped. Also, trawlers from neighbouring countries are entering. Only about 12 km is in the hands of the state, up to 200 km is in the hands of the central government. In the current situation, fish generally is not available up to 12 km. Meanwhile, we have repeatedly asked Central not to issue the license for the foreign trawlers. Otherwise, they are entering a lot of modern types of machinery. As a result, our difficulties with fishing are increasing day by day.
Q. Does West Bengal have seen any economic revolution after the implication of Blue Revolution? As we know there was a projection of approximately 18.90 crores for Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Blue Revolution (CSS BR)?
A. In the Blue Revolution, they talked about various schemes and we had sent needed documents. Then it was said that this paper or that paper will not work. So we got the minimum amount. Again we have been asked to send a scheme of Rs 250 crore and we sent it again. PMMS is a Rs 20,000 crore project we heard but unfortunately, we have been asked to send only Rs 250 crore scheme in 5 years while West Bengal stood second after Andhra Pradesh. Though we have doubts about how much they will sanction.
Q. May I have the approximate number of beneficiaries through State Fisheries Development Corporation (SFDC) this fiscal?
A. Kolkata people are very much in it. Fish is also being brought to Kolkata from Digha. In the lockdown, we have supplied fish to the towns of Burdwan and Birbhum districts. From Digha to Contai, on the other hand, we also have sold and supplied fish in the Sundarbans area. Lots of people have been benefited.
Q. Do you have any specific business model for the development of the Fisheries sector?
A. We are expanding with more centres in the coming days. Our main target is to fill the gap. Demand is rising by leaps and bounds. The demand is increasing as we are meeting the demand. People are consuming a lot more fish. We have proved that ‘Machhe Bhaate Bangali’.
Q. Are the production remains sufficient or we are importing a lot to fulfil our daily need?
A. The matter of import is different. Now the market is open. Our fish is going to Bihar, NorthEast, Assam or Odisha. Fish from Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh is coming here. On the other hand, our Shrimps and Prawns are going to Delhi and even abroad. It depends on the costing. Andhra people rarely consume fish, so they can sell the larger amount outside. In West Bengal, we consume a lot of fish, so we have to meet that demand first and then we can export it out. However, we are trying to fill the gaps that we have. We have been able to explain to the people that fish farming is beneficial. Now people are becoming entrepreneurial. Now much-educated youth are coming into the business. They are taking loans and working in the field. Hopefully, in the coming days, we will be able to fill the gap.
According to Prof. Bipul Kumar Das, Dean, Faculty of Fisheries Science, West Bengal University of Animal and Fisheries Science, “There are 25 Fishery colleges and 2 faculties accredited by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). West Bengal University of Animal and Fisheries Science is one of the faculty. Fisheries are taught in the same syllabus all over the country. There is a Student READY (Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana) program after three years out of four years course. This programme has been launched after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to the saddle.”
“We also have a lot of centrally funded projects. At present, a project called ‘Cage Culture’ is running under my supervision in Kandi, Birbhum. Most of the projects are of Rs 4-5 crores. Fortunately, there is a growing interest among students to come to study Fisheries. Interestingly, about 20,000 forms have been submitted for admission in 30-35 seats and out of them we have received more than 5,000 such forms where the students got more than 90 per cent marks.”