Govt to Distribute Fishlings, Shrimp Seedlings to Fishermen from Aug. 26

Hyderabad: The state government will launch free distribution of fishlings and shrimp seedlings to fishermen communities across the state from August 26. As part of this, it will release 85.6 crore fishlings and 10 crore shrimp seedlings into 26,357 water bodies at a cost of Rs 107 crore.

The BRS government launched this scheme in 2017 with an aim to boost fish production in the state and support the sustainable livelihoods of fishermen. Fishlings were released in 11,067 water bodies during 2017-18. This resulted in stocking of around 51.08 crore fish seedlings at a cost of Rs 44.6 crore, leading to a fish production of 2.62 lakh tonnes after a period of 8-10 months. It helped the state inch towards achieving the ‘Blue Revolution’.

Minister for fisheries Talasani Srinivas Yadav said that this year, the government has decided to release fishlings worth Rs 82.35 crore into 26,357 water bodies, including reservoirs, tanks, and other aquatic habitats. Besides, shrimp seedlings valued at Rs 24.6 crore will be introduced into 300 major water bodies.

Yadav on Saturday held a review meeting with senior officials at the Secretariat to finalise the schedule for implementation of the scheme from August 26.
Telangana has the country's third largest inland water spread, covering an area of 5.73 lakh square km across water bodies, including reservoirs, which the state government wants to utilise to achieve ‘Blue Revolution’.

Telangana ranks fifth in terms of freshwater fish production, valued at an estimated Rs 6,100 crore in the year 2022-23. This represents a three-fold growth compared to the fish production worth Rs 1,993 crore recorded in 2017-18. Over the same period, prawn production also registered considerable growth, rising from 7.78 tonnes valued at Rs 171.23 crore in 2017-18 to 11,734 tonnes worth approximately Rs 425 crore in 2022-23.