Anglers await return of Kashmir’s “tiger fish”

INDIA: A giant freshwater carp nicknamed the “tiger fish” for its great fighting abilities is set to return to the fast-flowing rivers of Indian Kashmir, officials say.

Scientists have built a hatchery for breeding the mahseer and hope to restock the waters of Kashmir, known as an “angler’s paradise,” although few foreign fishermen venture here now due to a deadly Islamic insurgency.

“Catching mahseer is a real sport, a real adventure. Its re-introduction in these waters will definitely see an influx of anglers,” says one enthusiastic fisherman, Abdul Qayoom, who lives on the outskirts of Srinagar, urban hub of the revolt against New Delhi’s rule that began in 1989. “They fight like tigers when you try to net them,” said 54-year-old Qayoom, recalling how he used to catch the fish in his youth.

“But the last catch I had was in 1987. My family and friends all feasted on this 40-kilogram (80 pound) fish, it was wonderful,” he said.

Hundreds of thrashing, thick-scaled mahseer used to migrate to Indian Kashmir each year until neighbouring Pakistan completed the Mangla dam in 1967 across the Jhelum river, the traditional migratory route for the fish.

The dam prevented the red-finned omnivorous mahseer — prized for its length up to 2.75 metres (nine feet) and weight of up to 60 kilograms (132 pounds) — from swimming to Indian Kashmir from the Pakistan side.

While the mahseer, valued by connoisseurs for its lean and succulent meat, can be found in other parts of the subcontinent, it now is rarely seen in the waters of Indian Kashmir.

“It’s almost extinct in these waters,” says Shaukath Ali, joint director of Kashmir’s fisheries department and a specialist in fish rearing.

But last year Indian Kashmir authorities set up a hatchery in southern Udhampur district to breed the mahseer and plan to open another this year in Uri, near the de facto border dividing Kashmir between nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan.

Srinagar, Wednesday, AFP