By Our Reporter
Shillong, March 15: A two- day workshop – Understand and develop methodology for assessing the development of stocks in community fish sanctuary – was held on March 11 and March 12, 2024 at Polo Orchid, Tura, West Garo Hills. The workshop was organised as a collaboration between the Department of Fisheries, Government of Meghalaya and GIZ which is presently implementing the ‘Protection and Sustainable Management of Aquatic Resources in the North Eastern Himalayan Region of India” (NERAQ) under the bilateral cooperation of MoEF&CC and GIZ with funding support from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) under the International Climate Initiative (IKI).
The workshop saw the participation of twenty five participants drawn from Department of Fisheries, Government of Meghalaya and Manipur as well as Department of Forest, Government of Nagaland. Community managers of selected fish sanctuaries of West Garo and East Garo Hills were also invited along with teaching faculty of Department of Zoology, Don Bosco College.
Senior Advisor, GIZ Kenneth M Pala in his welcome remark invited the participants to find ways of understanding the usefulness and effectiveness of community fish sanctuaries by embedding a scientific approach to better understand the role of such community conservation initiatives.
Chief moderator of the programme Dr Uwe Brämick, Director, Institute of Inland Fisheries Potsdam Sacrow • Lake and River Fisheries, Germany, made a series of presentations that highlighted issues and challenges related to principles and challenges in evaluating effects of enhancing fish stock, and other related topics.
The discussions presented various issues related to conservation and preservation of community fish sanctuaries. These were shared by community managers of fish sanctuaries. There was a keen interest among the participants to arrive at a standard methodology of assessing fish stock in such community fish sanctuaries for which institutes like the Don Bosco College and other regional and national technical institutes could be roped in. In the course of the discussion, Ms Patricia Dorn, Project Manager, NERAQ welcomed the initiatives taken for such conservation measures.