Photos: Kashmir’s first fish hospital aims to nurse back farm losses
Updated On Oct 09, 2018 11:49 AM IST
Pathogens like Trypanosoma have made their way into Kashmir’s colder waters, causing annual losses to farmers rearing fish including the valley’s indigenous species such as Snowtrout or Schizothorax. During a four year survey, fisheries experts from Sher-i-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences isolated the pathogen from reports of dwindling fish populations by respondents. As a result, SKUAST opened a fish hospital in May, at Rangil in Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district. This is second such fish hospital in the country following a facility established in Kolkata in 2015.
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A fish is treated at the fish hospital in the premises of Sher-i-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) at Rangil in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ganderbal district. Dwindling numbers of fish prompted SKUAST to open the contry’s second fish hospital, under its Aquatic Animal Health Management Division (AAHMD). The hospital is set up on the lines of a similar facility established in Kolkata in 2015. (Waseem Andrabi / HT Photo)
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Fisheries experts from SKUAST faced a common complaint from farmers during a survey of fish farms in Jammu and Kashmir. They would complain that species like trout were dying of unknown reasons. The experts were soon able to put a finger on the cause when they found pathogens like Trypanosoma had made their way into Kashmir’s colder waters. The blood parasite is mostly found among fish in tropical areas. (Waseem Andrabi / HT Photo)
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The state has some 513 trout farmers, who produce over 20,000 tonnes of fish annually. “Nature has provided us with abundant waters and fish. However, every year our farmers lose 30% fish to diseases and if we can control that, we could enhance the overall production by one-third,” said AAHMD head Feroz Shah, a fish diseases researcher. (Waseem Andrabi / HT Photo)
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There are some 122 species of fish found in streams, lakes and rivers of the state. Pollution and introduction of exotic species have been blamed for the vanishing of some of the valley’s indigenous fish including Snowtrout or Schizothorax. (Waseem Andrabi / HT Photo)
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To control the lose of fish, AAHMD has now set up 20 glass tanks and aquariums that provide treatment to ill fish. Some tanks are used for antibiotic, antiparasitic and antiviral medications. There are quarantine tanks, to acclimatise fish admitted to the hospital. An experimental fish farm is also associated with the hospital beside a cell culture facility, an aqua clinic and a pathology laboratory. (Waseem Andrabi / HT Photo)
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Scientists at work in a lab at the SKUAST fish hospital. Nasir Ahmad, a 45-year-old fish farmer from Bandipora district, said the hospital was helping reduce losses. He rushed to the hospital in August after his trout fish contracted a bacterial infection.“...They prescribed me medicine and I managed to save some 500 of my frys,” Ahmad said. (Waseem Andrabi / HT Photo )
