Anglers Association Nagaland to celebrate World Fish Migration Day on June 18

Anglers Association Nagaland (ANN), a government registered organization is all set to celebrate the World Fish Migration Day (WFMD) on the June 18 at Noune Resort in association with Mahseer Trust along with All India Game Fishing Association and Pelagic Tribe, Mustad, Surecatch, Agwetor, and Zerek.
World Fish Migration Day (WFMD) is being celebrated annually in 12 locations across India. The locations include Kolkatta, Mysore, Delhi, Mumbai, Assam, Rajasthan, Hyderabad, Chennai, Belgaum, Pune, Cochin and Dimapur.

ANN has more than 400 members registered from all over Nagaland.
The objective of this event in India is to educate the younger generations about the Fish, Rivers and Conservation.
Altogether there will be 50 school children between the age group of 10-15 years participating in Dimapur. The programme will start from 9am till 5pm. It will include talks about India and its Migratory Fish, activities like Angling for Conservation, Catching& Releasing a Fish, Handling a Fish, Fish Anatomy, Drawing and Painting and Birding.
Resource person for the event is Derek Dsouza, renowned angler from Bangalore. For participation one can contact the organizers at 9402686734.
Celebrated from May 21 till June end, World Fish Migration Day 2014 (WFMD) is a global initiative, with local events worldwide, to create awareness on the importance of open rivers and migratory fish. This event is being celebrated in 263 locations worldwide.

For centuries we have relied on, and worshiped our river. Today, our thoughtless actions are threatening its abundant fish and are destroying our life source. If we don’t work to conserve our fishes and river now – there will be nothing left for our children.

What is World Fish Migration Day?
The concept of WFMD is that organizations from around the world volunteer to organize their own event around the common theme of: CONNECTING FISH, RIVERS AND PEOPLE. By working together we can improve our impact on raising awareness, sharing ideas, securing commitments. By doing so, we create a greater driving force, which will allow for easier management, conservation and rehabilitation of migratory fish stocks.

Why?
Many migratory fish species are severely threatened. The main causes are man-made obstacles like dams, weirs and sluices, which disrupt the natural flow of rivers and prevent fish migration. Many fish need to migrate to reproduce, feed and complete their life cycles. Migratory species make up a crucial link in the food chain and play an important ecological role in productive river systems. Furthermore they provide an important food supply and livelihood for millions of people around the world.

Our goals
Activate citizens around the world to join and take action Create awareness and commitment for free flowing rivers and open swimways for migratory fish
Migratory Fish of India include Mahseer (All species), Barramundi (Asian / Indian sea bass), Indo-Pacific tarpon, Indian shad and snapper. Some of these species are already endangered, while others, subject to several anthropogenic threats, may become threatened and potentially extinct in the future if we do not afford them urgent attention.

Angling and Conservation
Many people may not realise the important role that Anglers play in monitoring and caring for our waterways and fish stocks. Anglers are natural custodians for these important natural resources; they spend much of their free time on the water, and so they are often the first to observe changes within the natural environment. This creates a strong motivation for anglers to become involved in ensuring they are appropriately managed. In many areas across the world, anglers are becoming increasingly involved in monitoring programs to track the ongoing health of our waterways, and projects to arrest and reverse environmental decline. They also perform an important function in lobbying government for improved management of our fish and water resources, and offering a voice of caution regarding potentially harmful development proposals.
Anglers also aid researchers in understanding the fish population and species, in fact more new species have been discovered by Anglers and Hobbyist.

About Mahseer Trust
Throughout the world, among sport anglers and wildlife enthusiasts, there is an enormous amount of admiration and respect for the “noble” Mahseer and it is our hope that many of these will wish to support the aims of the Trust. Although the Trust is based in the UK, we aim to work in partnership with conservation organisations in India, with Indian scientists and universities and, indeed, to engage worldwide, with individuals and organisations with an interest in Mahseer biology and conservation. By so doing, it is our hope and ambition that these great fishes will thrive and allow future generations to continue to appreciate their magnificence.

About All India Game Fishing Association
“All India Game Fishing Association”, a non-profit, charitable organization is a result of the effort from “The league of responsible anglers” across India with the sole intention to promote “Sport Fishing” and to protect the fast depleting stock of sport fish by active participation of angler community in protecting the water bodies it resides. It is a commitment to make “AIGFA” the encyclopaedia of ethical and established practices of sport fishing in India by chronicling game fish, their habitat, safe methods to target them and to promote catch and release by publishing, educating, record keeping and involvement of other organisations which are also committed to the same cause.
AIGFA recognises the value of sport fishing and its multi-dimensional benefits to our lives and society, and AIGFA is committed to zealously guard the tradition so that our next generation can also enjoy the thrill of this wonderful sport.

2014 Events
Mahseer Trust, All India Game Fishing Association (AIGFA), and Mustad in 2014 conducted the program at Mysore, Coorg, Chennai, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Kota, Delhi, North Sikkim, Mumbai, Sultanpur and Sri Lanka. The event saw a wide participation and media covered it extensively. The event had over 200 participants in India and over 4000 worldwide.
The objective was to educate our future generations about managing natural resources. We train the younger generation in catch and release angling, with the idea of using angling as a tool to sensitise them towards fish and aquatic ecosystems. The program addressed various issues about how to recover healthy rivers and prevent further degradation of our species.