Prospect and possibilities of aquaculture expansion in the wetlands of Lakhimpur district, Assam

Abstract

Wetlands are low-lying ecosystems with immense production potentials, that support the livelihood of millions of people through a wide range of resources and services. The state of Assam is endowed with a variety of wetlands covering an area of about 3.90 lakh hectares. The Lakhimpur district has 27,307 hectares of wetland areas comprise of rivers, streams, oxbow lakes, beels, deep water rice fields, ponds, tanks, and reservoirs. These wetlands are rich in fish diversity and productivity thus the livelihood of fishermen is linked with wetlands fish resources. Certain water quality parameters in the floodplain wetlands of the Subansiri River basin were analyzed and found that the water quality is very congenial for fish and fisheries. About 48% of total water bodies are used for fishing and about 12% of the total population of the district mainly relies on fishing as the main livelihood. Though the state has vast areas of wetland resources but unable to produce required quantities of fish as per the demand due to the lack of proper resource utilization approaches for aquaculture production. Sustainable utilization of wetland resources with the introduction of improvised technologies for aquaculture productivity will boost fisheries generating employment opportunities. Aquaculture expansion through diversification with greater community participation in existing wetland resources has great potential to enhance fish production in the district providing livelihood support to the rural poor.