MUZAFFARGARH, June 25: Global warming has proved fatal not only for environment and humans but also for water world as well if reports are mass deaths of fish seeds and fries from hatcheries and farms of Muzaffargarh are to be believed.

“The experience of mine and other fish farmers show climate change has a more widespread effect on fish populations in the ponds,” Javed Iqbal Gasura, fish farmer, said while talking to Dawn.

Muzaffargarh is the biggest fish producer in Punjab because here 11,000 acres are used for fish farming.

Mr Gasura, who is vice president of the Muzaffargarh Fish Farmers’s Association, farms fish on 100 acres. He says every day he takes out thousands of dead fries from his ponds. He says he has been farming fish for the last 10 years but has never seen the deaths of fish seeds and fries at such a large scale in summer months.

Muzaffargarh Fisheries Department Deputy Director Saeedur Rehman said he had received many complaints about the mass deaths of fish seeds and fries from many areas.

“Temperature is very high this year which has also raised the water temperature,” he said.

He said even though global warming was behind the killing of fries but farmers’ negligence towards modern fish farming could also be blamed for the deaths. He said through proper diets and other measures the death rate of fish seeds and fries could be controlled. He said his department would arrange a workshop next month in which farmers would be educated about the ways of modern fish farming and protecting fries from rising temperatures.

Fish farmers say that it is not only rising temperatures that are killing their fries but the government’s polices towards fish farmers gagged the whole fish sector.

Mr Gasura said the government had allowed fish imports from Myanmar which had poor taste and less protein because of its frozen state. The local fish, he said, was rich in taste and had more proteins because of its freshness.

He said five years ago, the cast of fish farming per acre was Rs10,000 to Rs20,000 depending upon the specie of the fish while the fish production was worth Rs700,00 to Rs100,000. He said now the per acre cost was Rs20,000 to Rs40,000 while the earning was Rs80,000 to Rs100,000.

He said the high charges of food and electricity as well as imports of fish had made the fish farming less profitable job.

He said even though the government offered subsidised electricity rate to agri farmers but not to fish farmers. He said the department said they had a contract with Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) that electricity would provide to fish farmers at cheap rates but in the district one would not find even more than 10 fish farmers enjoying the facility.

He said the Fisheries Department had not supplied fish seeds to him for the last five years. He alleged the Fisheries Department supplied seeds to their “favourites”. Fisheries Department Deputy Director Saeedur Rehman denied the charges. He said a laboratory was being constructed in Muzaffargarh where modern breeds would be developed. He said this year, the government allocated Rs500 million for the fish sector and of that, Rs150 million were allocated for Muzaffargarh. He said local breed of fish are: Rahoo, Moree, Silver, Thaila and Graa. He says the Bank of Punjab offered loans to fish farmers at a two per cent interest rate.