Kullu trout farmers irked at price drop in Bilaspur

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, June 15

Trout farmers of Kullu district are irked at the state Fisheries Department for reducing the sale price of the fish variety it produces at Kol Dam in Bilaspur district from Rs 550 per kg to Rs 350 per kg. The decision is aimed at attracting more buyers for the fish variety.

The department has specified a price of Rs 550 per kg for trout in the state. However, to sell its trout stock produced at Kol Dam in Bilaspur, the department has reduced its sale price to Rs 350 per kg citing low demand as the reason for the decision.

The department produced the fish at Kol Dam as an experiment this year. Generally, trout is found in cold streams of the state but it is the first time that the department has experimented to produce it in normal water streams. it is encouraging people to adopt fish farming as an additional source of income. Shakti Singh, president of Trout Fish Farmers Association in Kullu district, says, “We are disappointed by the decision of the Fisheries Department. The reduction in its sale price will directly affect the livelihood of trout farmers in the state”.

“If the department reduces the sale price of trout to sell its produce, it will prove disastrous for fish farmers of the state. Customers will prefer to buy fish at a lower price, directly affecting our livelihood,” he says.

Mahesh Kumar, Deputy Director, Fisheries Department, Bilaspur, says, “The sale price of trout has been reduced to sell the fish produced in Kol Dam. Due to a low demand in the market, we decided to reduce the price temporarily to attract more buyers”.

He says that the actual sale price of trout is Rs 550 per kilo, as declared by the department and it will remain the same.

Fisheries Dept’s experiment

• The department has produced trout at Kol Dam in Bilaspur district as an experiment this year.
• Generally, trout is found in cold streams of the state but it is the first time that the department has experimented to produce the fish variety in normal water streams.
• It has fixed a price of Rs550 per kg for trout in the state. At Kol Dam, the price has been reduced to Rs350 per kg.