Augmentation of fish production from Gangulpara reservoir of Madhya Pradesh: A success story

India has 19,370 reservoirs, and the state of Madhya Pradesh, which is the second largest in area, has 5,104 reservoirs. In the arid heartland of Madhya Pradesh, India, there is a successful example of fisheries development in the Gangulpara reservoir of Balaghat district. The reservoir was constructed on the Godavari River in 1958. Fisheries development has been done in this reservoir with the assistance of the Blue revolution scheme and Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana of the Central Government, subsidy on the purchase of inputs of the state Government, efforts of the Department of Fisheries in providing financial assistance on stocking of fingerlings, fisheries cooperative society and the local community. The traditional fishers of the nearby villages who earlier did fishing in the river later got displaced due to the reservoir’s construction. These fishers united and got the fishing right in 1978 in the reservoir. One fisheries cooperative society named Prathmik Macchua Sehkari Samiti, Surwahi, was formed by DoF in 1979 to undertake fishing by these fishers. The fishers started fishing in this reservoir in 1980 through a royalty system by paying a royalty amount of Rs. 2/kg to DoF for fish harvest. During this period, DoF played an essential role in stocking fingerlings in the reservoir. However, the stocking density was 500 fingerlings/ha, which was relatively less than the standard stocking rate of 1000 fingerlings as envisaged by the Reservoir Fisheries Development Guidelines of the NFDB. The DoF also provided a target for annual fish production to the FCS. Later with the introduction of the Madhya Pradesh Panchayati Raj Avam Gram Swaraj Adhiniyam in 1993 in the state, this reservoir was given on lease to Prathmik Macchua Sehkari Samiti, Surwahi by District Panchayat in 1995. Madhya Pradesh Panchayati Raj Avam Gram Swaraj Adhiniyam was an act to amend the law of establishing Panchayats to ensure the effective involvement of the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the local administration and development activities. After that, fishers did stocking, which resulted in fish production slowly increasing over the years due to increased stocking density. For years, Gangulpura Reservoir faced numerous challenges in the availability of fingerlings for stocking and boats and nets for fish harvesting, which eventually limited fish production, prompting the need to undertake cage culture for fisheries development through Blue Revolution and PMMSY in 2015-16. The DoF, M.P. provided a 40 per cent subsidy, i.e., Rs. 14.40 lakhs on a unit cost of Rs. 36.00 lakhs for the construction of 25 cages to FCS by witnessing the deliberate efforts of fishers and their potential to increase fish production further. The DoF, M.P. got money from the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India. These cages were stocked with 50,000 fingerlings of Pangasius by fishers and harvested by them. As the Blue Revolution scheme progressed, the positive impact became evident. Last year, Gangalpura Reservoir witnessed 50 metric tonnes of Pangasius production from cage culture. Fish populations have surged, with 32 fish species and 90 metric tonnes of fish production from reservoir, including cage culture and resurgence in livelihood opportunities, enhancing their socio-economic conditions.