8,000 trout die on Shopian farm

annual trout yield has been static at 90-100 tonnes.

Fisheries Minister Ajaz Khan said an inquiry has already been ordered into the loss. “I have called for an inquiry into the loss. Action will be taken against officials found guilty.”

The mortality took place at a fisheries farm at Alyalpora in Shopian and the cause of the loss is yet to be known. The farm,consisting of 12 ponds,is aimed to enhance trout production in the state. But the growing mortality rate,which the departmental estimates peg at 35 per cent in the past three years,is threatening to dip the production further.