Minister for Agriculture V. S. Sunil Kumar has called for promotion of indigenous species of fish in all fishery development programmes. Speaking after releasing a report on fish count in Kole lands at a function held at Kerala Agricultural University (KAU), Mannuthy, on Monday, the Minister said it is welcoming to see that some of the endangered fish species have been spotted in Kole lands. I have persistently opposed Orunellum oru meenum’ programme on two reasons. First of all, fish farming should not replace paddy cultivation and secondly profit oriented promotions of commercial species of fish should not endanger the existence of indigenous species. I wish the fishery scientists would come up with methods to improve the multiplication rates of indigenous species of fish. Kole land ecosystem is a complex combination of many elements like water plants, fish and birds , he said. Future plan KAU Vice-Chancellor R. Chandra Babu stressed the importance of such surveys in developing future plan for preservation and conservation of ecosystems and indigenous species. Kole lands represent a diverse ecosystem, which facilitate multiple and interlinked land use. At a time when unintended injuries to bio diversity due to interference in nature are being detected, studies of this nature will help us to evolve appropriate strategies for corrective steps and conservation measures, he said. Three species of freshwater fish, belonging to the threatened category in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species have been found in the Thrissur Kole, according to the fish count report released. Horabagrus brachysoma( Manjakoori), Carinotetraodon travancoricus (Attunda), and Hyporamphus xanthopterus (Attuchuvappan) are the species reported from the kole lands. Thrissur Kole is also found to be the home to one of Kerala’s smallest freshwater fish species, the green carplet, Horadandia brittani ( Attukananjon), which is endemic to peninsular India. In total 48 species of fishes were collected from the Thrissur Kole, highlighting the high species diversity of freshwater fish in this ecosystem. The survey also found that the water quality parameters were within normal levels as per standard quality guidelines. Except near the Enammavu regulator, all locations showed freshwater characteristics. Water hardness was very high at the Enamavu regulator, compared to the other stations. Joint survey The survey was conducted jointly by the Forestry College of KAU, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies(KUFOS) and Kole Birders Collective. KUFOS Registrar Victor George, Director of Research T.V. Sankar, Scientist M. K Sajeevan. KAU Registrar P. S. Geetha kutty, Director of Research P. Indira Devi and Forestry faculty Dean Vidyasagaran spoke.