Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, on the occasion of ‘World Fisheries Day’, laid the foundation stone for 4 fishing harbours, 25 aqua hubs to stop migration of fisherman to Gujarat and the Andaman Nicobar islands for fishing due to lack of Fishing harbours in the state.
The CM said, “The construction work would begin from 15 December after the bidding process is complete. In the first phase, four harbours are to be constructed with an estimated cost of Rs 1510 crores at Juvvaladinne in Nellore district, Uppada in East Godavari, Nizampatnam in Guntur, and Machilipatnam in Krishna district along with 25 aqua hubs.”
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said during the 3,648 km padayatra the fishing community had narrated their woes and he was witness to the dire conditions. Despite having the second-longest coastline of 974 km, due to lack of facilities, there was the migration of fishermen to other states and sometimes they were caught in international waters and were jailed in other countries.
The CM said that the lives of aqua farmers will be completely changed in the coming year. To create more opportunities for the fishermen, three more ports would be undertaken at Machilipatnam, Ramayapatnam, and Bhavanapadu with an expenditure of Rs 10,000 crore.
Ge said the state government has recruited 794 people as fisheries assistants in village secretariats to assist fishermen and aqua farmers.
AP Fish feed Act and Aquaculture Development Authority have been formed to have quality aqua products that are free of fertilizers and chemicals. For the first time, the State has set up 35 aqua labs with a cost of Rs 50 crores to check the quality of aqua products.
Earlier, for any testing aqua farmers from the Krishna district used to go all the way to Kakinada due to lack of lab facilities, and such instances were seen during padayatra, he said. AP Fisheries University would be set up in the West Godavari district to give expert training in aquaculture. The work would begin in a couple of months, he added.