By Ibankyntiew Mawrie
From smoked fish and local breeds to fish pickles and dry fish, a variety of fish species were showcased during the 6th edition of the State Aqua festival, organised by the Department of Fisheries at the premises of State Central Library here on October 26, 2022.
With fish farmers converging from across the state at the State Library’s premises to exchange ideas and sell their products, Sunday Shillong explored its meticulous details and presents to its readers lesser known aspects of the fisher folk.
“This festival is an occasion for the government and farmers to come together and reinforce the commitment towards making Meghalaya self-sufficient,” explained Chairman of the Meghalaya Farmers (Empowerment) Commission KN Kumar.
like Rohu labeo commonly known as kha-rew, silver carp, and grass carp are found in all major rivers of the state, and second, the homegrown fish like mahseer (kha-saw), Reba carp or kha-mirka, Bronze Featherback or kha-blang and others.
The answer is not yet, but it is on the way to becoming a surplus state given the increase in production from 4700 metric tonnes in 2012 to 18,000-19,000 metric tonnes this year.
Since the launch of the Meghalaya State Aquaculture Mission ten years ago, almost 15,000 metric tonnes have been added to the production of fish in the state. This mission was launched in March 2012, to boost the economy through fish farming, with the slogan “from dependence to self-sufficiency.”
Through this mission, around 25,000 fish farmers have benefitted from the government scheme that provides a 60 per cent subsidy through bank loans. This scheme encourages 
farmers to take up fish farming in their private or community ponds.
“I ventured into fish farming three years ago and through the support from the government through its different schemes and programmes, I have been able to make a decent living,” said Maian Donald Syiemlieh, a resident of South West Khasi Hills.
Another fish farmer, Stephen Marwein from Nongstoin said the construction of fish ponds and training in fish breeding have benefited the farmers in a big way because unlike the previous years, they don’t have to import fish in large quantities to meet the growing demand.
Talking about the challenges, Marwein said the weather conditions are a major hurdle in fish rearing. “We don’t know how the weather might turn out to be – it is very unpredictable,” he said.
If there is anything interesting or new about the fisheries sector in these past 10 years, then it is the value-added production.
Kumar said that years ago, fish processing wouldn’t have been possible because the production of fish in the state was too low; but this time around, farmers are venturing into 
home-scale fish processing.
“The processing part has started – fish pickle and smoked fish are coming up in a big way. New developments are taking place which would not have been possible unless we had some surplus,” Kumar said, excitedly.
Fish farming in Meghalaya is more of an individual entrepreneurship rather than an organised cooperative set-up, even though about 100 cooperative federations are there in some pockets of the state.
