River ranching programme

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About the programme-

• River ranching programme is introduced as a special activity under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) for augmenting and enhancing the fish production and productivity through expansion, intensification, diversification and productive utilisation of land and water. 
• Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries has designated National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad as the Nodal Agency under the Central Sector component of PMMSY for implementing River Ranching across the Country.
• As part of the programme, in UP, 3 lakhs fingerlings were ranched at 3 sites namely, Brijghat, Garhmukteshwar, Tigri, Meerut and Bijnor. 
• At the same time, other 4 states namely, Uttarakhand, Orissa, Tripura and Chhattisgarh also participated in the nationwide River Ranching program launching.
• This Program is one such activity which can achieve sustainable fisheries, reducing habitat degradation, conserving biodiversity, maximizing social-economic benefits and assessing ecosystem services. 
• It also ensures the upgrade of traditional fishery, ecosystem sustainability and trade & social protection of Inland communities.
• It is programmed to address increased fish catch, improved livelihood of fishers and to maintain the cleanliness of the river as they feed on organic remnants. 
• As a Phase –I programme, National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) during 2020-21 has targeted three major river systems namely Ganges and its tributaries, Brahmaputra & Barak river tributaries and Mahanadi & other rivers. 
• Accordingly, six major Inland states focusing on the length of the river belt namely Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Bihar were selected along with targeted sites for releasing fish fingerlings.
• Aiming the above objectives, State of Uttar Pradesh has followed the breeding protocol and standard measures that are required for ranching the fingerlings of native fish species into the rivers, which will help in increasing the fish production, improve the livelihood of dependent fishers and also make a healthy environment in the riverine system. 
• For river ranching the suggested fingerling size is 80-100mm, as the fingerlings have reached the preferable size for Ranching Programme in the selected state. 

Note: Ranching is a kind of aquaculture in which a population of a fish species (such as salmon) is held in captivity for the first stage of their lives. They are then released, and later harvested as adults when they return from the sea to their freshwater birthplace to spawn.

Further reading:  https://journalsofindia.com/pradhan-mantri-matsya-sampada-yojana/

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