By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 26 Jun: Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Development Minister Saurabh Bahuguna addressed a press conference at the Media Centre at the Secretariat here today. During the press conference, Bahuguna shared that, for the first time since the formation of the state, fish from Uttarakhand has entered the international market. He added that with the support of the state government, three cooperative societies from Pithoragarh district have supplied five metric tonnes of rainbow trout to Nepal. He also announced that preparations are now underway to export nearly 30 tonnes of fish in the coming days.
Bahuguna shared that three fisheries cooperative societies from Dharchula and Munsiyari areas of Pithoragarh had produced the fish. Maintaining the cold chain, the consignment was first sent to Veraval in Gujarat, where it was processed and successfully exported to Nepal’s international market on 23 June 2026. This export has brought an income of about Rs 23.50 lakhs to 33 fish farmers, he added.
The minister asserted that to encourage this first export from Uttarakhand, the Fisheries Department provided gap funding assistance of Rs 5.40 lakhs for harvesting, packaging and transportation. He claimed that this achievement is a positive outcome of the contacts established with international buyers and stakeholders during the Gulf Food Expo held in Dubai. The department is now exploring the possibilities of export of rainbow trout to Europe, the Middle East and South-East Asia, with plans to send nearly 30 tonnes of fish abroad in the near future.
Bahuguna claimed that this positive change is the outcome of the policies pursued by the Dhami government and that Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and his government have taken concrete steps to open new avenues of employment in the fisheries sector. The Fisheries Minister also shared that a MoU was signed with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in 2024 to provide marketing support to fish farmers, under which 45.10 metric tonnes of trout fish worth Rs 2.10 crores has already been supplied.
The minister added that the scope of the fisheries sector has expanded in Uttarakhand and that the progress in this sector is continuous. He informed that, while there were only 10,011 fish farmers in the state till 2022, the number has now increased to 15,657, including 3,584 women fish farmers. The growth rate of fish production, which was merely two per cent between 2012 and 2017, has risen to 11 per cent between 2022 and 2026. In 2026-27, fish production within the state reached 11,805 metric tonnes, valued at approximately Rs 165 crore.
Bahuguna also shared that the department’s budget has also increased, creating more job opportunities. He reminded that the annual budget of the Fisheries Department, which was Rs 55.76 crorse in 2021-22, has risen to Rs 261.41 crore in 2026-27. In the past four years, self-employment opportunities have been created for 5,646 fish farmers, and 33 regular appointments have been made in the department.
The minister asserted that the government schemes are proving to be game changers. He observed that new initiatives such as the Trout Promotion Scheme and the Chief Minister Matsya Sampada Yojana are yielding positive results. The fisheries sector has now become one of the fastest-growing areas of the state’s economy, contributing significantly to rural livelihoods and employment generation. Director of Fisheries Chandra Singh Dharmashaktu was also present at the press conference in addition to some other senior officers.
