Pithoragarh Coldwater Fisheries Cluster Gets PMMSY Push

Dr Abhilaksh Likhi, Secretary of the Department of Fisheries in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, spent 18 October 2026 at Munsyari in Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand, reviewing how coldwater aquaculture is growing in the Himalaya. He met rainbow trout farmers at the Johar Matsya Swayatt Sehkarita and the Namjala Trout Farm and praised the local cooperatives for turning trout rearing into a living.

Why Munsyari

The glacial streams of the Gori Ganga and the water temperature they carry have made the town a centre of rainbow trout culture, shifting farming there from subsistence to a semi-commercial trade. The Centre has notified 34 fisheries clusters across the country, and Pithoragarh is the one notified as a Cold Water Fisheries Cluster under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).

What PMMSY has put in

Coldwater fisheries in India sit in six hilly states and union territories: Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. Investment in these regions under the scheme has crossed Rs 2,299 crore, covering raceways, hatcheries, feed mills, cold storages and post-harvest facilities.

Trout output has risen six-fold over the past decade to nearly 5,000 MT a year.

Uttarakhand's own plans

Projects worth Rs 317 crore have been cleared in the state, among them modern fish markets, landing centres and an integrated aquapark at Sitarganj. The state has also started the Trout Protsahan Yojna with an outlay of Rs 170 crore, which aims at 1,500 raceways, 100 mini hatcheries and 600 cold-storage units by 2028-29.

Markets at home and abroad

Uttarakhand sent its first international consignment of trout to Nepal in June 2026, the state's maiden export of the fish. At home, trout is supplied to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) under a memorandum signed between the state government and the force, which gives farmers an assured buyer. The Secretary credited the ICAR-Directorate of Coldwater Fisheries Research (DCFR), Bhimtal, with bringing rainbow trout to Munsyari and with support in seed production, disease management and farmer training.

Why it matters

Coldwater aquaculture, the Secretary said, is of strategic worth for the hill states: it diversifies livelihoods, adds to nutritional security, opens export doors, feeds eco-tourism, helps conserve threatened species such as the Mahseer and strengthens the economy of border villages.