National Seminar on "Eco-friendly Management of Resources for Doubling Fish Production - Strategies for 21^st Century" was held at Central Inland Capture Fishries Research Institute (ICAR), Barrackpore on 22-23, December, 1999. It was inaugurated by Shri G.N Mitra, the most eminent fisheries scientist of our country. Dr. H.L. Chaudhuri, Dr. P.V. Dehardrai and Prof. H.P.C Shetty graced the function as guest of honour. Dr. K. Gopakumar, Deputy Director General (Fisheries) ICAR, New Delhi, delivred the key note address. Dr. M. Sinha, Director, CIFRI, Barrackpore and President, Inland Fisheries Society of India (IFSI), welcomed the delegates, who have come from different corners of India and abroad to attend the seminar. The society presented mementos to eminent fishery scientists of our country. The vote of thanks was given by Shri R.A. Gupta, Secretary, IFSI.

The two day seminar had following six technical sessons and one joint session.

1. Bio-diversity conservation and sustainable production;
2. Socio-economics, extension, information and fisheries education;
3. Fish physiology and pathology;
4. Environmental issues;
5. Resource Management;
6. Aquaculture / Post harvest; and
7. Plenary;

Dr. K.V. Devraj, Ex-Vice Chancellor, UAS, Bangalore chaired session I with Dr. A.G. Ponniah, Director, NBFGR, Lucknow as co-chairman. Eleven papers were presented in this session. Session II was chaired by Dr. P. Das, Ex-Director, NBFGR, Lucknow and co-chaired by Prof. N.C. Datta, Calcutta Univerity. Out of enlisted 16 papers, 10 were presented in this session. Dr. B.N. Singh, ADG (Inland Fisheries) ICAR, New Delhi and Prof. B.B Jena, Kalyani University were the chairman and co-chairman of session III, in which 7 papers were presented out of 12 papers accepted for presentation. Nineteen papers were presented in session IV, which was chaired by Dr. V.D Singh and co-chaired by Dr. S.K. Konar, Kalyani University. Dr. C.S Singh, Ex-Dean, College of Fisheries, Gobind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar and Dr. S. Ayyappan, Director, Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Bhubaneswar, acted as the chairman for sessions V and VI, respectively. Dr. B.N Pandey, Magadh University, Gaya, was the co-chairman for both the sessions. Out of 16 accepted papers 14 were presented in session V, while in session VI eleven out of the 20 abstracted papers were presented. The number of pappers presened clearly indicated the success of the seminar.

Finally, Dr. P.V. Dehadrai, presided over the plenary session. Dr. M. Sinha was the co-chairan. The chairman of different sessions presented draft recommendations before the house for discussion and further improvement. The final recommendations of the seminar are as follows:

• The Seminar, taking note of the potentials of the aquaculture sector along with high annual rates of growth over the years, recommends the implementation of the strategy for doubling fish production, with additional 45% area coverage and about 50% enhancement in productivity on eco-friendly terms, backed up by necessary financial and entrepreneurial investments.
• The Seminar takes note of the declining populations of indigenous fish species in different regions of the country. As these valuable species are becoming scarce, they need to be protected both from economic as well as conservation point of view. There is an urgent need to develop technologies of their breeding and seed production. A list of candidate species may be prepared as applicable for various regions of the country. Research institutes should initiate work on these species.
• The Seminar notes with concern, the presence of a number of exotic species in India causing threat to our indigenous fish fauna. A statutory authority may be created with adequate powers to arrest and reverse this trend. To start with, a status paper on the subject needs to be prepared.
• Collapse of intensive shrimp culture in the costal regions of India has brought into focus some key environmental issues regarding sustainability of aquaculture operations. There is an urgent need to define the scale of intensity of freshwater aquaculture systems. Environmentally viable limit should be set in terms of yield rate, water renewal pattern, stockimg density and feeding. This regulatory machanism should be strictly implemented. The Central and State Governments should set parameters for carrying capacity of the ecosystem while approving projects.
• Biotechnological tools should be utilised in nutrition, genetics, fish health protection, breeding and sexing of fishes so that higher scales of production can be achieved with minimum impact of the habitat.
• Resevoirs constitute one of the major inland fisheries resources for sustainable development for the new millennium. By adopting culture-based fisheries, a substantial increase in production can be achieved from reservoirs on a sustainable basis. The Seminar recommends identification of reservoir fesheries as a major thrust area for the coming years.
• The Seminar strongly recommends constitution of a Reservoir Fisheries Development Authority (RFDA) on the lines of FFDA and BFDA to foster development of reservoir fisheries in India. The agency should have the responsibility to disseminate the scientific know how to the fishery managers of reservoirs.
• There is more precise direct relationship between stocking and yield in the case of small reservoirs. The Seminar recommends to open up small resevoir sector for private sector participation. Private sector should be encouraged to take fisheries rights of reservoirs on lease and manage them on scienticfic basis. The lease period should not be less than 7 years. The proposed RFDA should provide necessary assistance in obtaining technical consultancy and bank finance.
• Inadequate stocking in terms of size as well as number is one of the serious shortcomings in reservoir fishery management. All state goverments should assess their requirements. The options of pen culture should be considered to produce fingerlings wherever land-based nurseries are not available.
• Cage and Pen culture systems offer scope for yield enhancement in large water bodies, especially in the resevoirs. Since technologies for pen culture available in the country are not adequate, import of cages may be considered. However, environmental implications should be studied and carrying capacity of water bodies should be determined before releasing the technology for wider adaptation. A national steering committee of experts should be constituted to examine and implement cage culture package in-reservoirs.
• The northeastern region of the country holds tremendous fish production potential which remains underutilised. Resource-wise potential and guidlines for their utilization are available. Urgent action is needed to projectize the development plan.
• The Seminar recognises the need to create GIS based data-base on resource, productivity and management. Both landbased and remote sensing data should be utilized for creation of database.
• There is a wide variation in the fishery rules being followed in different states. This comes in the way of development, especially in dealing with resources such as rivers and lakes which have trans-state jurisdiction. There is need to have uniform/compatible legislation on fisheries among various states under the Indian Fisheries Act.
• The last three decades have witnessed tremendous strides in manpower development in the fisheries sector, resulting in creation of a competent cadre of fishery scientists. However, there is a need to create a similar cadre of supporting technical personnel.
• There is lack of scientific manpower in specialized disciplines such as fishery microbiology, fishery engineering , fish biotechnology, fishery statistics etc. in the Institutes. Although some specialised courses are reported to be introduced in Fishery Colleges, they are not reflected in the degrees awarded. Separate degrees on specialized subjects need to be awarded. Recruiting agencies should consider only MFSc. degree holders with specialization in such disciplines rather than recruiting veterinarians in fishery institutes.
• Some basic parameters such as swimming speed, required water velocity, swimming habits etc. are required by the engineers to design fish passes. The Seminar urges the research institutes to initiate work to set basic parameters for designing fish passes.
• Considering the importance of diversification of aquaculture practices, it is recommended that ornamental fish culture should get adequate priority. Candidate inland fish species for promoting as ornamental fishes need to be identified. Research institutes should develop technologies for breeding, seed rearing and keeping of ornamental fishes.
• The Seminar identifies the post-harvest management in inland sector as a weak link causing slackness in development. There is an urgent need to prove into problems in this area and rectify them.
• Considering the need to be managed different types of pollutants as also their nutrient potentials, it is recommended that suitable processing measures are evolved and guidlines framed for recycling the waste into culture systems.
• The Seminar notes with concern the wanton destruction of prawn and fish juveniles while collecting natural seed of fin and shell fishes. It is recommended to encourage use of only hatchery raised seed in aquaculture. Use of natural seed should be discouraged.