Agartala, Feb 3 (Reporter) Aiming to popularize fisheries and encourage the youths to become self-reliant through fish cultivation, a three-day Fish Festival began here at Urban Hat for the first time in Tripura where more than a hundred fish producers joined with more than 30 varieties of fish. The Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha along with Fishery Minister Sudhangsu Das inaugurated the festival on Friday and said that the state government has been making efforts to create more reservoirs and bring more areas under fishery activities to cater to the growing domestic demand for fish. He said Tripura has to import fish from Bangladesh and Indian states like Assam, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh, which the state government targeted to bring a minimum level within the shortest period and mentioned, “We have launched various schemes and provided various aids to the fishermen to increase the production.” The Chief Minister said that 63,397 fishermen in the state have been trained in modern fish production techniques and spent an amount of Rs 9.83 crore. He said about 116 hectares of new water bodies have been created to expand the fisheries area, with an expenditure of Rs 1.74 crore. The annual fish demand in Tripura has been recorded at 1.76 lakh MT and production is less than half...////...