Shimla, Sep 22 : In a first, the Himachal Pradesh Fisheries Department has succeeded in breeding in captivity a record 87,000 golden mahseer fingerlings, a popular freshwater sport and food fish, at a farm, and 34,500 of them have been released into nature, Director-cum-Warden of Fisheries, Vivek Chandel, said on Monday.

The fingerlings were raised in the Machhyal Mahseer Farm, which was established in 2016.

Since then, its annual production had never exceeded 5,000.

Of the 87,000 reared fingerlings, 20,000 were stocked in the Pong dam reservoir and 14,500 in the Gobind Sagar reservoir.

The population of the golden mahseer, being a game fish, is declining in the state for various reasons, including construction of dams, barrages, pollution, indiscriminate fishing of brood and juvenile fish, introduction of exotic species and habitat deterioration.

After releasing the fingerlings into nature, the Fisheries Department says its population will prosper.

With pioneering efforts in conservation of the critically endangered golden mahaseer through a captive breeding programme, the department has been honoured with the prestigious SKOCH Gold Award ' 2025. The award was presented on September 20 at a ceremony in New Delhi.

The golden mahaseer is the state fish of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Over the past decades, the population of the golden mahaseer has declined alarmingly.

The Himachal Pradesh Fisheries Department launched a major scientifically-supported captive breeding program,e. In 2023, a special campaign was launched to increase its production in collaboration with the ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI) in Bhimtal in Uttarakhand, the only cold-water fisheries research institute in the country.

Chandel, along with the nodal officer, visited the ICAR-CIFRI Bhimtal to identify shortcomings. The implementation of reforms produced remarkable results. In 2024'25, the department's farm at Machhyal produced 87,000 fingerlings.

Now, the state government is planning to raise its fingerlings at the newly established fish farm in Sunni in Shimla district. This step will not only mitigate immediate threats to the species in the wild but also provide a stable and reliable source for long-term revival efforts.

The golden mahaseer plays a vital role in maintaining species balance in the aquatic ecosystem. It is also a highly sought-after species among anglers. In 2024'25, more than 3,700 anglers visited Himachal Pradesh, contributing to eco-tourism. The species is found in the cold-water stretches of the Beas, the Sutlej, and their tributaries, as well as in reservoirs like Pong, Gobind Sagar and Kol dams. The fish also has high nutritional value and significantly supports the livelihoods of fishermen in the state's reservoirs.

With the successful outcomes of the conservation program, the department expects fingerling production to cross the one lakh mark this year, Chandel said. He said the fish production, which was 17,025.97 metric tons in 2022-23, has increased to 19,019.83 metric tons in 2024-25. Similarly, reservoir fish production rose from 549.35 metric tons in 2022-23 to 748.76 metric tons in 2024-25.

The mahseer, the longest-living freshwater fish, is native to mountain and sub-mountain regions. It belongs to the Tor genus. The Pong Dam reservoir, around 250 km from the state capital Shimla and 190 km from Chandigarh, supports an ample population of the golden mahseer.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)

/IANS