Have we been kind to our lakes and rivers which make our society and a regular supply of fish? Certainly not. We have long forgotten that, the 2000 year old civilisation which we have been quoting at every available opportunity was founded on the ‘Ching-Pat-Turel’ or ‘Hill-Lake-River’ eco-system. In ancient times, our ancestors had successfully learnt to harness and regulate that eco-system to our needs and advantage. Our domestic economy flourished on the waterway system that our ancestors had developed and so carefully nurtured. In recent times, we have been continually disturbing that system with modern concepts of development like barrages and dams without any thought of the impact on the overall system. And we are paying for that. Among others, traditional fishes and fishery are among the most affected. The Ithai Barrage, erected for the purpose of regulating the water level for harnessing of power by the Loktak Hydro-electric Project, was responsible for the deterioration of the Loktak eco-system and extinction of indigenous fishes like Ngaton, Pengba and several others, while it made traditional fishing methods obsolete. The embankment has also led to massive proliferation of Phumdis for lack of natural outflow or regulation of Phumdis through the Khordak channel and Manipur river. And now, they are blaming local fishermen of using fishing methods which is detrimental to the health of the Loktak Lake. The state simply refuses to understand that fishery is a way of life for the people settled in and around Loktak Lake. And they had no qualms in destroying the floating huts of Lake dwellers whose primary occupation is fishery. These disruptions had indeed affected the fish production in the state. According to state government records, the present level of annual fish production of the state is to the tune of 19,200 tonnes as against the total requirement of about 27,500 tonnes ( based on the National Nutritional Standard of 11 kgs. per capita consumption) of fish for about 25,000 lakh projected population of the state showing a shortfall of about 8,300 tonnes. At present, the shortage is partly met by importing fish from other states like Assam, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh etc. On the basis of the National Level of production, Manipur has got a production potential of about 38,000 tonnes of fish per annum if harnessed the un-tapped fisheries resources through judicious exploitation and application of modern scientific fish culture techniques, as analysed by the state fishery department. For conservation and development of important indigenous fishes of Manipur, the fishery department have by induced breeding methods started culture of “Pengba” “Ngaton” “Nganap” “ Ngakra” and “ Ngakrijou”. Besides this, research on propagation and culture of “Ukabi” “Sarengkhoibi” and different species of “Nunga” have been taken up at Fishery Research Centre, Lamphel. But, these attempts have not succeeded in either bringing back the taste or adequate supply of these indigenous species. What has not been understood by state authorities is that, these indigenous fishes are part of our culture and traditional rituals. Captive breeding of these indigenous fishes is certainly not the solution. We need to find other ways to facilitate natural breeding of these indigenes. On the other hand, the state has been swamped with exotic fishes populating our fishery farms, lakes and rivers. Over and above that, the import of fish from outside the state is having a negative impact on the local fish farmers. It has come to such a state that imported fish are invading the sacred space of our women markets, which used to be the traditional preserve of locally produced fish. These developing situations need to be taken in consideration by the state Fishery department.
