Fisheries Dept issues post-flood guidance for fish farmers

THE Department of Fisheries has issued ad­visories for fish farmers whose ponds were affect­ed by recent flooding to help them safely restore operations.

The advisory covers essential steps to ensure water quality, disease prevention, and pond infrastructure recovery. The public is advised to boil water before use, as floodwater may carry toxic residues (pesticide remnants), viruses, and bacteria that pose risks to nearby communities. Furthermore, fish farm­ers need to recapture and inspect surviving fish, distinguish mixed fish by species and size and remove predatory fish and wild species that may have entered the ponds.

They also need to re­build and reinforce erod­ed pond banks promptly, using trenches, retaining walls, and grass planting to prevent further soil erosion, install fences to keep livestock (cattle, buffalo, pigs) away from pond banks, clear sedi­ment and debris from inlet and outlet canals, ensure proper depth and width for water flow, inspect, clean, and rein­stall intake and drainage pipes, replace worn or damaged nets and sand­bags, prepare extra sand­bags for future needs.

They must clear bushes, weeds, and aquatic plants (such as water hyacinth, algae, and floating ferns) from ponds and surrounding canals and regularly check nearby waterways and bridges to prevent blockages.

Conducting health checks on fish and wa­ter quality and properly disposing of dead fish to prevent disease spread are required.

Fish farmers are to avoid building structures that could obstruct water sources (rivers, streams) or drainage canals and design pond layouts to ensure good water flow and easy transport of supplies (feed, medicine) via well-maintained roads and canals.

Testing and adjust­ing water quality param­eters, treating water with lime and fertilizer and se­curing adequate inputs (feed, fingerlings) are needed to enable timely restocking with suita­ble-sized fish, the depart­ment stated. — NN/KK