Himachal trout goes to Delhi - for Games!

SHIMLA - Trout from Himachal Pradesh is being snapped up in large numbers by organisers of the Commonwealth Games as well as hotels and restaurants in Delhi where it will tingle the palates of players, delegates and tourists.

Orders to procure the commercial trout, both the rainbow and brown species, have started flowing in, with fish farmers saying the demand will increase manifold as the Oct 3-14 event draws nearer.

“The demand for the trout, mainly the rainbow, has certainly increased among table fishes and it’s likely to multiply by next week,” Balbir Singh, a prominent trout cultivator at Dobhi village near Kullu town, told IANS.

“A large quantity of stock has already been booked by the Games organisers and high-end restaurants and hotels in Delhi,” he said.

He said within the state the rainbow trout’s wholesale rate is between Rs.220 and Rs.250 per kg whereas in Delhi it’s around Rs.300 to Rs.350 a kg.

As per fishery department estimates, commercial production of trout in the state during 2009-10 was around 60 tonnes, and is expected to cross 80 tonnes this fiscal.

A 600-km stretch of the cold waters of the Beas, Sutlej and Ravi rivers in the upper Himalayas is the habitat of the trout. The state has around 100 run-of-river trout farms, including six government-run ones, mainly in the interiors of Kullu, Mandi, Shimla and Kinnaur districts.

Director of fisheries B.D. Sharma said the state government would not procure the fish for the Games. “Most of the farmers have got good orders compared to the normal season to supply the trout during the Games. They have been selling it directly in the Delhi and Mumbai markets. They would supply directly during the Games too.”

He said most farmers have been advised to propagate the trout up to its optimum fishable size to get record prices.

“The farmers are also getting bulk orders to supply Indian major carps like the rohu, mrigal, catla and the golden mahseer and some exotic species like the common carp and the silver carp,” he added.

J.P. Negi, a fish farmer from the Sangla Valley in Kinnaur district, said the trout price in Delhi has increased by Rs.50 a kg in the past two weeks.

“As its demand increases (with the arrival of the players), it will certainly fetch a record price of Rs.400 per kg,” he added.

The trout farmers in the state are facing tough competition from Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand, where a large number of private farms have come up.

The history of trout in Himachal Pradesh dates back to colonial rule. The British introduced trout in 1909 to promote angling. At that time fingerlings were released in various cold water streams.

Meanwhile, the Games organisers are all set to serve more than 7,000 athletes, by serving over 35,000 meals a day during their stay in the Commonwealth Games Village.

More than 250 chefs will be daily cooking more than 150 Continental, Asian, Oceanic, Caribbean, African and American cuisines for the players.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)