ELURU: V. Suresh, Joint Director, Fisheries Department, on Sunday said plans were afoot to let into Kolleru lake 5 crore fish seed as part of the Government's endeavour for enrichment of aquatic life in the water body in the post-Operation Kolleru period.

Addressing a gathering of fishermen from a cluster of villages in Kolleru here, he highlighted the need for the growth of fish in natural conditions in an area of 46,000 acres in the plus five contour falling under Krishna and West Godavari districts where fish ponds were demolished to facilitate revival of the lake. In first phase, he said 15 lakh fingerlings would be released into the lake from three different places shortly. The department was making arrangements for a tie-up with private hatcheries for procurement of fish seed.

Marketing facilities

Mr. Suresh said that it was proposed to set up a special market unit at Sriparru in the lake with all infrastructure facilities such as ice plants, cold storage units and packing sheds. The move was aimed at improving the market facilities for local fish and help fishermen adopt latest practices in post-harvest technology. Similarly, a craft and tackle making unit was also proposed to be set up somewhere in the lake for manufacture of fishing nets, `doanes' and `mavus'; used for fishing in traditional method, he said.

He highlighted the need to create a special brand name for Kolleru fish in the world market so that it would fetch the fishermen higher prices.

Fishermen sceptical

Meanwhile, the move of letting the 5 crore fish seed into the lake hardly enthused the fishermen who attended the meeting. Peddiraju of Kalakurru said presently, there were no chances for survival of fingerlings to be released into the lake due to non-availability of water and pollution. Sydu Katam Raju of Prattikolla Lanka apprehended that fishermen communities in the lake would hardly benefit from the fingerlings to be let into the Kolleru they were quite likely to move away into the sea through Upputeru.

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