LUCKNOW, Nov. 18 -- A river ranching ceremony was organised by the government at river Gomti on Monday. Around 2 lakh fish, brought from ponds of department of fisheries, where they were raised in captivity for a period, were released by minister of fisheries Sanjay Nishad into the river system for their further reproduction and balancing the river environment. The minister, accompanied by principal secretary Mukesh Meshram and senior officials of the fisheries department, conducted the release from the riverbank and a boat - under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana. The event took place near Laxman Jhula Park. River ranching is a form of aquaculture where fish are raised in captivity for a period and then released into a river system to grow and reproduce naturally before being harvested. The practice aims to replenish local fish populations, conserve native species and improve the livelihoods of fishing communities. Minister Sanjay Nishad claimed that "fish motility" in rivers had dropped from 30% to 10%, suggesting that a certain mortality rate was inevitable. He emphasised ongoing government efforts to support fishing communities and highlighted schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana and the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Bima Yojana, which offers insurance coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh for fish farmers. Suresh Kumar, a fisherman present at the site, said: "About 10% fish die inside plastic packets themselves. Once released, nearly half fall prey to bigger fish, snakes or birds. In the end, barely 50% survive," he claimed. However, principal secretary Mukesh Meshram said: "You cannot change nature...we will have to accept that around 5 to 10% of fish will die when left into river, and then there are the dangers from big fish, snakes and frogs...but if 50% of fish survive, it would be wonderful for river ecology."...