River Ranching Programme

River Ranching Programme

News: The Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, is set to launch the River Ranching Programme in Uttar Pradesh under the Namami Gange Programme.

What is River Ranching?
• River Ranching is a form of aquaculture in which a population of a fish species (such as salmon) is held in captivity for the first stage of their lives.They are then released, and later harvested as adults when they return from the sea to their freshwater birthplace to spawn.
• The key objectives of the program are:
• To sustain and conserve the biodiversity in the river.
• Facilitate regular stocking of fingerlings of cultivable carps to enhance productivity 
• Increase fish production
• Enhance income and livelihood opportunities to communities’ dependent on these resources
• River ranching helps in achieving sustainable fisheries, reducing habitat degradation, conserving biodiversity, maximising social-economic benefits and would also remove factors causing pollution.
• In this activity, different species of fish are released in the river, which destroy factors that increase the level of nitrogen.These fishes will also aid in maintaining the cleanliness of the river as they feed on organic remnants.
• In Uttar Pradesh, about 15 lakh fish fingerlings of native carp species shall be simultaneously released into the river in 12 districts by the department.These districts include Bulandshahr/Hapur, Hardoi, Bijnor, Amroha, Fatehpur, Kanpur, Badayun, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Mirzapur, Varanasi and Ghazipur.
• Four other states namely Uttarakhand, Orissa, Tripura and Chhattisgarh will also witness the launching of nationwide River Ranching program.