THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A one-day brainstorming workshop organised by the Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, University of Kerala, in connection with the World Fisheries Day the other day stressed the need for an ornamental fisheries policy for Kerala to address the issue of sustainable management of ornamental fisheries. Further, they argued that green certification procedures in the collection, trade and breeding of ornamental fish should be made mandatory. Currently, the list of the endangered fishes from the Western Ghats includes 38 species from Kerala. Among this, 26 species are actively involved in the trade. Of these, the populations of 14 species are decreasing and the current population trends of 11 species are unknown to us. The workshop stressed the need for assessing the population status and trade data base for ensuring the sustainability in trade. “In order to conserve the freshwater fishes and ensure the sustainability, we have to adopt suitable strategies and legal measures. A clearance-issue system must be introduced in the export of the fishes for aqua business to ensure that no wild caught species in the threatened category are being traded. Further, a strict ban of the trade of endangered and critically endangered species must be enforced. There is also need for trade regulation so as to regulate cross-border transport of fish, as the wild caught fish from Kerala is transported mainly from Bangalore at present,” opined the participants at the conference. The workshop called for more transparency regarding official data on commercial exploitation of fish. ‘’The fishery data from the wild must be made public by putting the data on websites. In the era of information technology, such open access data should be made available. Fisheries Department has to notify the closed season, quota for fish catch and other regulatory measures to protect and manage the resources,” said the speakers. The workshop also stressed the need for more community-based training programmes and extension activities in order to develop the socio-economic status of fishermen and other stakeholders. While the women self-help groups could be fully utilised in the area of ornamental fish breeding, more popularisation programmes for indigenous ornamental fishes and captive breeding technology development were needed, said the participants of the workshop.
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