Production of Aquaculture in Nepal

The aquaculture production programme in Nepal began in 1981/82 with the execution of the Aquaculture Development Project supported by the Asian Development Bank and the United Nations Development Programme. In 1981/1982 aquaculture production was estimated to be 750 tonnes. It reached 8 317 tonnes in 1992/93. This increase in production of over 11 times within 11 years of the project period was the remarkable accomplishment of the growth of the industry in the country. Aquaculture production continued to increase significantly by the end of the project and reached 20 000 tonnes in 2003/2004, From the overall development of aquaculture production trends, pond fish culture was developed into the major production system and in 2003/2004 accounted for over 90 percent of production and area coverage in the country.

The fish seed industry is one of the important production areas in the aquaculture sector. It has been estimated (DOFD, 2004) that a total of 8.22 million fish seed were produced in 2003/2004, of which 72 percent were provided by the private sector in the country.

A number of freshwater indigenous fish species of economic value – Schizothorax spp, Tor spp., and Neolissocheilus hexagonolepis . and others such as Anguilla spp., Puntius spp., etc from capture fisheries are popular as a delicacy and fetch much higher prices than any other cultured species in the country.[Continue reading at:http://www.fao.org/fishery/countrysector… ]