Revised norms put aqua farmers in a quandary

Survey has to be taken up afresh in less than two years of undertaking one and declaring aqua zones

There are hardly any steps to protect our interests, rue aqua farmers.

In a gap of less than two years, the Department of Fisheries has undertaken a survey to declare ‘aqua zones’ in East Godavari district, thanks to the recent guidelines issued by the government with regard to conversion of agriculture lands into fish tanks.

When the officials are on the job of identifying the zones with the help of their counterparts from the Revenue and other departments, the aqua farmers are wondering why the surveys are being conducted time and again.

Highest exporter

East Godavari accounts for exporting 1.5 lakh tonnes of prawn to various international destinations every year. Though the official records indicate that prawn culture is spread in an extent of 12,000 hectares, the actual extent, however, is at least 50% more than the recorded one.

Following a series of requests from the paddy farmers to allow them to convert their fields into fish tanks owing to skyrocketing input costs and not so remunerative price for paddy, the administration had proposed to announce the zones a couple of years ago and appointed a committee to oversee the procedures. In all, 16 zones had been declared in 13 mandals and an additional 5,000 hectares converted into fish tanks.

However, the procedure is back to the square one with the government issuing orders for implementation of uniform guidelines across the State with regard to the zones. “Now, we have to conduct the survey afresh,” says P. Jaya Rao, Deputy Director of Fisheries. The aqua farmers, however, are expressing resentment over the fresh notification as they have already started investing on the converted fields.

High cost

“It costs about ₹5 lakh per acre to convert the paddy field into a fish tank. This is in addition to what we have paid to the departments towards conversion charges,” says C. Nagabhushanam, a fish farmer and president of the Konaseema-based Dasulamma Aqua Federation.

“Though we are the highest revenue generators to the exchequer, there are hardly any steps to protect our interests. Fish farmer is the loser in the entire chain,” he says.