Governance and Institutional Arrangement Related to Fisheries and Aquaculture Development at Micro Level in North Eastern India: A Case Study of Nagaon District

Abstract

Northeast India is endowed with copious aquatic wealth in the form of beels, swamps, ponds and rivers. With the total area of nearly 3.74 lakh ha, the total fisheries resources of Assam is highest in the country. Nagaon district located on the south bank of Brahamputra in central Assam is known as the fishery capital of Assam. The total fishery resource of Nagaon district is 42143 ha including ponds and tanks (4439.5 ha), beel (8000 ha) registered river fisheries (2850 ha) and swamps and low lying areas (22854 ha). A case study was carried out with the objective of (i) reviewing the governance and institutional arrangement at district level for fisheries and aquaculture (ii) identifying the strenghts and weakness (iii) identifying major issues and suggestions for improvement.

A large number of stakeholders are associated directly and indirectly with aquaculture & fisheries in Nagaon district. These include fishers, cooperatives, self help groups, private hatcheries, various state government departments, input suppliers, financial institutions, research institutes, NGO’s etc. In terms of fisheries infrastructure, 110 Eco hatcheries (109 under private sector), one fish feed mill having a capacity of 250 kg/hour, 8 government fish seed farms, one fisheries collage has already been established in the district. Governance in fisheries is the sum of legal, social, economic and political arrangements used to manage fisheries. It includes legally binding rules, such as state and national legislation and relies on customary social arrangements. Assam fishery rules 1953 as amended from time to time governs the fishery resources of the district, while Assam fish seed act 2005 regulates the quality seed production, marketing and stocking in water bodies. The management rights of beels are given on lease to either individual or fishermen cooperative societies for seven years, while for aquaculture ponds and tanks under government control was given on lease for one year. Total fish production of the district from all the resources was 18,640 MT in 2008-09 (8.5% of state’s fish production). The present productivity of various fisheries resources was almost half in comparison to its potentialilties. Moreover the fish demand of the district (24192 Mt) was 33 percent more than the production, requires further intervention to bridge the gap of additional demend. Apart from the gap in demand supply, other major challenges for fisheries governance were quality seed production and its distribution, declining share of fishers in consumer rupees, access of fishers to the fisheries resources, reasonable share of benefit from beels, overfishing and degradation, use of destructive fisheries practices and fishing gear. Proper implementation of fisheries regulations related to equitable benefit, proper maintenance of waterbodies, overfishing, banning the use of destructive practices and gear are required.

Keywords: governance, institutional arrangement, fisheries, aquaculture, Nagaon, Assam