A report, ‘Development of fisheries and aquaculture in Vidarbha: Study and action plan’, based on extensive research was released by state chief secretary Sumeet Mallick at a programme organized by Vidarbha Development Board and Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University (MAFSU) at divisional commissioner office here on Tuesday. Divisional commissioner and MAFSU VC Anoop Kumar along with state’s senior cabinet minister Mahadev Jankar was also present on the occasion .Collectors of various regions, officials of state fisheries department, representatives of Maharashtra State Fisheries Corporation and other associates also attended the programme. “The bureaucrats and members of judiciary should posses a strong desire to adapt to new methods of growth to bring in reforms, only then a project can be implemented successfully,” Jankar said. He also spoke about introducing policies to help the market flourish and upgrade factors involved in the process of fish production, including labour skills, cold storage and irrigation. Jankar also lauded Kumar’s inclination towards blue revolution and ‘Fish in every pond’ initiative. The fish trading market in Vidarbha is still highly unorganized and unregulated. The Mayo fish market of Nagpur, Bengali camp fish market, Chandrapur, Athawadi bazaar fish market, Yavatmal and Itwara bazaar fish market of Amravati can be easily identified as the core markets in respect to the fish marketing system, the report said. The consumer behaviour, challenges, technical drawbacks and plan for development was compiled in the detailed report carrying information collected after surveying different water bodies of the region. Emphasizing on the major recommendations, animal husbandry, dairy development and fisheries secretary Vikas Deshmukh said, “The adoption of different culture technologies as per the type of water body in Vidarbha region could increase the annual fish production.” According to him, creation of additional positions in the department of fisheries at the district level for establishing dedicated, professional and efficient extension services system at par with their counterparts in agriculture and allied sub-sectors like animal husbandry, horticulture and dairy is important. This system shall have its network reaching at block and panchayat levels to bring all aquaculture and fisheries resources, public, private, community and multi-owned under its fold, he said. “Review of existing fish seed production and rearing centres for their strengthening and capacity development is a must. Dysfunctional and under-performing fish production centres should be operational to their fullest capacity. The fish seed production centres under the MFDC shall be withdrawn and handed over to DoF for development,” Deshmukh said.