The Sikkim government has declared 'Cooper Mahseer' locally named as 'Katley' as state fish, said an official of the Fisheries department. According to the official, the state government has declared Meolissochilus hexagonolepsis commonly known as 'Cooper Mahseer' as a state fish to highlight the importance of the fish and to give emphasis to its conservation measures.
Additional Director of Directorate of Fisheries, CS Rai said, "Katley is found in varied altitudes in the state predominantly confined in Teesta and Rangit rivers and their tributaries. In the year 1992, ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (ICAR-NBFGR), Lucknow had categorized Katley fish as endangered species. Later on, in the year 2014 the fish was also categorized as endangered by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)."
The official said that the fish has high market value and is highly preferred by the public in the state.
The official further stated that the state government has also declared the reservoirs of the state to be open for fishing activities.
The Directorate of Fisheries will also issue license shall to the interested individual fishermen or fishermen co-operative societies or SHGs for fishing in the reservoirs in accordance with the existing provisions under the Sikkim Fisheries Rules, 1990, the official said.
The reservoirs are in Chungthang in North Sikkim, Legshep in West Sikkim along with Dikchu and Rorathang in East Sikkim.
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