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Bhutan Fisheries
A less productive but still significant food source
resulted
from fishing, both from cold-water streams and lakes
(primarily
trout) and warm-water fisheries (primarily carp). A
growing demand
for fish as a dietary supplement was reported in the
mid-1970s
following a 1974 FAO aquaculture study and a 1976 FAO
survey of
rivers and lakes to determine the level of fish stock.
Fisheries
were developed, and carp were imported from Assam. In 1977
the
Department of Animal Husbandry established a Fishery
Development
Programme, initially for stocking rivers with game fish
and for
developing commercial capability as a long-term goal.
Between 1979
and 1987, an average of 1,000 tons of fish were caught or
produced
annually. Another FAO survey was conducted in 1981, and
the
government included fishery development for the first time
in the
Fifth Development Plan. The Integrated Fisheries
Development
Project was started at Geylegphug in 1985. The National
Warm Water
Fish Culture Centre supplied fish to farmers, and some
twenty-one
tons of carp were produced at fisheries for local and
national
consumption. To control cold-water fishing, the Department
of
Forestry issued fishing licenses and enforced seasonal and
fishsize prohibitions.
Data as of September 1991
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