MANSEHRA: The trout fish is fast becoming extinct due to its illegal hunting and pollution in the Kunhar River.

“Trout is an exotic species among the sea animals and has no match as far as its taste is concerned, but it is fast becoming extinct owing to illegal hunting and pollution in Kunhar River,” Ali Asghar Tanoli, an official of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation in Naran, said.

The trout, which was once the famous food for the visitors in Kaghan valley available cheaply, is sold from Rs4,000 to Rs5,000 per kilogramme.

The trout hatched in farms is not as tasty as the one grown in Kunhar River, he added.

The trout which is bred at farms located along the Kuwai-Naran section of Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road is being sold at Rs1,500 to Rs2,500 per kg.

Asghar Tanoli said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had established a trout fish hatchery at Jarad in Kaghan valley to breed the species to be put into the Kunhar River to preserve it, but the project failed to achieve the desired results.

A tourist family from Larkana, Sindh, told Dawn that the trout fish found in the Kunhar River had no match as far as its taste was concerned.

They said people were throwing garbage in the river which was causing fasting extinction of the fish.

Liaqat Ali, an employee of government trout fish farm, Jarad, said that the trout fish farm was being used as hatchery to preserve its species.

“We hatch trout from eggs and then put it into the river to preserve its species,” he added. He said the fish larva was also sold to local farmers so they could contribute to its preservation.

The official said those intending to fish in the river were issued permits worth Rs100.

A local disclosed to Dawn that the trout fish was fast becoming extinct as hunters also used explosives and electric current to hunt it from the Kunhar River.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2016