SWAT: The devastating flood on August 26 in Swat district washed away 237 private trout fish farms and two government hatcheries in Tehsil Bahrain and Matta.
Besides losses to infrastructure worth billions of rupees, rare fish worth millions of rupees was also destroyed by the floods and this adverse impact on this sector has ultimately rendered hundreds of workers unemployed.
Jafar Yahya, Deputy Director of Fisheries Department, Swat District, told this scribe that the recent 2022 flood was three times stronger than the 2010 floods. In front of which the trout fish farms could not survive and were swept away.
He said that 237 trout farms have been affected by the worst floods, adding that eighty percent of the farms’ infrastructure has been completely destroyed, while 20 percent of them have been partially damaged. However, fifteen thousand metric tons of trout fish in these farms have also been washed away in the flood.
Owner Usman Ali of Private Trout Fish Farms at Madian said that his six fish farms were completely washed away during the flood. These farms had thousands of fish ready for market which has been flooded along with the infrastructure and we have suffered a loss of crores of rupees.
Abbas Khan, the owner of another fish farm, said that our business has completely ended and we invested whatever we had in this business. We request the government to cooperate with us so that Madian, which is the hub of trout, can be restored.
The Deputy Director of Fisheries Department, Jafar Yahya, said that the two big government hatcheries in Madian and Sulatanr are not safe either. Millions of rare fishes have also been exposed to the floods.
“During this flood, 13,000 to 15,000 metric tons of trout have washed away in these farms. This year, we gave one million fry only to the private sector, while we also have millions of fry in government hatcheries, have also been washed away, “Said Jafar Yahya.
According to Jafar Yahya, an estimate on losses of trout farms has been compiled and sent to the provincial government and soon this sector will be restored.
He said that in view of the damage caused after the recent floods, our efforts will be to make the protection walls of fish farms and government farms stronger and safer.
Fisheries officials said the fish farms destroyed by the flood will be restored in four to six months. However, people will have to wait for two years continuously until the trout fish farms come to the market.
