Harvesting and grading fish

With extension programmes, researchers can transfer their knowledge on aquaculture to end users for commercial fishing to save endangered species and even to harvest a commercially viable crop in ponds or coastal waters.

Aquaculture occupies a strategic position in the economic development of India. The country is in the process of mordernising its fish production programmes, which in turn depends largely upon application of improved practices based on science and technology. This is possible only through proper extension programmes. One of the major tasks of an extension worker is to communicate technical information to its users. Technical knowledge is of no use unless it is accepted and adopted by the farmers.

By having good communication skills do not necessarily mean that a person has to be a brilliant speaker. In fact, speech rarely matter to poor and barely educated farmers who are more interested in learning new techniques for their farming. Although modern research work requires generation of data that needs association with research laboratories and instruments, I have been fortunate that, from time to time, I have had opportunities to do a lot of field work and in the process could connect with several aqua culturists of North Bengal region.

Extension programmes with individuals are comparatively less complicated since there is only one head to deal with, and if the communication between the instructor and the beneficiary is good, the outcome is productive. Jhora-fish ponds are constructed by the Fisheries Department through various fish farmers’ development agencies for individual farmers/families. Today, more than 4000 jhora ponds exist in the Darjeeling hills.
During 2002, I used to visit ponds in Pudung village near Kalimpong for some experiments on the coldwater fish, katli (Neolissocheilus hexagonolepis). RF Lepcha, the ex- deputy director of fisheries of north zone had registered for PhD on ‘bionomics and cultural prospects of katli in Darjeeling district’ under Dr S Barat in the North Bengal University. Although my topic for Ph.D. was ornamental fish culture, I could somehow manage some time every month to visit the jhora ponds with Lepcha. I had also constructed a miniature laboratory for conducting some water quality investigations at Lepcha’s sprawling residence near Graham’s Homes, Kalimpong.
The beneficiaries were generally very courteous, I was honoured to be their guest. There were some difficult moments though, particularly in the beginning, when they would offer me millet juice, a local liquor, somehow i could make them understand that tea would be sufficient for me. Later, they used to offer me pure buffalo milk. There is no real history of fish farming in the Darjeeling hills. As such, most of the jhora farmers are ignorant about various aspects of fish culture. One positive feature though, was their willingness to learn. In sharp contrast with the plains, a common beneficiary in the hills would feel more exited if the instructor would perform some culture related activities instead of simply instructing them. I used to get down in the jhora ponds quite regularly with the beneficiaries and perform the netting for data collection on fish growth.

Women are competent in adopting different livelihood activities, however their role in aquaculture is often ignored. To ensure women utilise their full potential in profitable activities like aquaculture, it is necessary to provide them building support. One such scope is through culturing ornamental fish.

After having worked with women SHGs for about three years, I am rest assured that good subject matter narrated in a very attractive way are key to successful teaching. Ornamental fish is a relatively new subject and we found eager listeners everywhere, regardless of how many would actually participate in fish farming. However, even this interesting subject needs to be presented in a proper manner: just showing some photographs and delivering a flimsy lecture on the topic do not work. The extension worker should have a sound knowledge of the technology. Extension programmes in our country often falter due to unconvincing knowledge of the instructors themselves. Proper facility is also required. A friend of mine working as a fishery expert in a Krishi Vigyan Kendra in a North Bengal district regrets the fact that he cannot help the farmers because of absence of proper laboratory facilities.

Planning in agricultural extension is never complete without an element of marketing. In case of ornamental fish, market linkages are essential, since they cannot be sold in a regular village market. In our project, market linkage was established with reputed ornamental fish dealers of North Bengal region, and in the final phase of the project, West Bengal State Fishermen’s Co-operative Federation Limited was involved. For one SHG, we could sell goldfish (Carassius auratus) worth Rs 24 thousand after four months of culture, the initial investment being no more than rupees six and a half thousand.

However, all the pictures were not so rosy: I can readily recall how most of a batch of goldfish fry bought from Kolkata through BENFISH suffered death due to fatigue from transport and careless release in ponds. We were expecting the fish in the morning (the fish was packed one day earlier in Kolkata and was dispatched by bus), however, due to problems in the national highway, the bus was very late.

Such instances are hurting. Extension activities are always risk-prone. In contrast, general research is risk free: you need to collect data and present it in a proper way. However, failures are stepping-stones to success. Prior to my involvement in the project, I had finished the practical experiments of my PhD work on ornamental fish culture. If these developments cannot be made available to the farmers, then what is the use of conducting such research in the first place?

In a recent editorial piece published in the much acclaimed journal, Aquaculture Asia, Dr S Wilkinson of the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific has observed that it is one thing to devise a technically excellent, cutting edge standard and altogether different thing for small farmers to implement it. If standards are going to be adopted, then farmers need to be the primary beneficiaries. As such, extension would always be important for me, at least to investigate the findings of my research on the field.

Working with SHGs has given me some other opportunities as well. I feel privileged for being invited to deliver training lectures on income generation through fish culture in a workshop on ‘income generating programmes and cultural activities in continuing education centers of West Bengal’ organised jointly by Department of Adult, Continuing Education, Extension and Field Outreach, North Bengal University, and State Resource Centre for Adult Education, West Bengal at North Bengal University during March, 2007. The other speakers being eminent personalities like Prof C S Chakraborty, vice chancellor of West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, N Kajuri, director of the State Resource Centre for Adult Education, Professor B N Chakraborty, Professor J Sankrityana, and R Chakraborty of North Bengal University among others. The workshop was very fruitful and In fact, Dr Chatterjee used to be very enthusiastic about our training programmes. He would somehow manage some time to be present in our trainings and speak with the women trainees directly, enquiring about the project and encouraging them. Instances like these provide inspiration. In future, small-scale extension experiments should be made compulsory for verifying new findings, particularly in the agriculture and aquaculture sector: only then farmers could benefit from mordern research activities.

(The author is a research scholar, Department of Zoology, North Bengal University, Siliguri and teacher in Post Graduate Department of Zoology, A.B.N. Seal College, Cooch Behar.)

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Harvesting and grading fish