Fisheries Department honoured with prestigious SKOCH Gold Award-2025
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Chief Minister congratulates department for this achievement
Shimla Sept 22
The Fisheries Department of Himachal Pradesh has been honoured with the prestigious SKOCH Gold Award-2025 for its exemplary and pioneering efforts in the conservation of the critically endangered Golden Mahaseer through a successful captive breeding programme. The award was presented on 20th September 2025 at a ceremony held at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
The award was received on behalf of the department by Vivek Chandel, Director-cum-Warden of Fisheries, Himachal Pradesh, and Dr. Som Nath, Assistant Director (Fisheries).
While congratulating the fisheries department for the award, Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the SKOCH Gold Award was a testimony to the State Government’s unwavering commitment and innovative approach toward biodiversity conservation. He added that SKOCH Group is known for recognizing impactful governance projects and this national recognition further validates the effectiveness of the integrated conservation strategy. The award underlines the government’s significant initiatives for the protection of Golden Mahaseer which was a freshwater fish species that symbolizes the aquatic biodiversity of the state. It is also the State fish of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.
Over the past decades, the population of Golden Mahaseer in Himachal Pradesh has declined alarmingly due to threats such as habitat degradation caused by hydropower projects, overfishing, and pollution from human activities. To address this, the Fisheries Department launched a major scientifically supported captive breeding program. The ‘Machhyal Mahaseer’ Farm, established in 2016, had long struggled, with annual fingerling production never exceeding 5,000.
In 2023, under the leadership of Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, a special campaign was launched to increase its production in collaboration with the ICAR–Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI), Bhimtal, Uttarakhand, the only cold-water fisheries research institute in the Country. Director Vivek Chandel, along with the nodal officer, personally visited ICAR-CIFRI Bhimtal to identify shortcomings. Following this, specialized training sessions on Golden Mahaseer breeding techniques, nutritional diets, and disease control were organized.
The implementation of these reforms produced remarkable results. In financial year 2024–25, the department’s farm at Machhyal successfully produced 87,000 Golden Mahaseer fingerlings. Additionally, a major stocking campaign was launched, during which 34,500 fingerlings were released into natural habitats for the first time. Of these, 20,000 were stocked in Pong Reservoir and 14,500 in Gobind Sagar Reservoir.
