Bengal opening fish restaurants as its production peaks

The government in the Indian state of Bengal, in the eastern part of the country, is backing the opening of nine fish-focused restaurants.

The restaurants will be set up by the State Fisheries Development Corporation (SFDC) in the cities of Howrah, Hooghly, West and East Burdwan, and Balurghat in North Bengal, with plans to open them by October 2018.

The idea was spawned out of pop-up restaurants operated during local festivals in 2017, the Millennium Post reported

"The Bengalees are known for their love for fish and people have thronged our stalls relishing the varieties. We had put up a stall at Poush Mela in Santiniketan in December 2017 and the response was overwhelming. So, we have decided to expand in a big way," SFDC Managing Director Soumyajit Das said.

The SFDC already runs 11 restaurants, including several in popular tourist destinations including Digha, Henry's Island, and Bishnupur. Apart from setting up its own restaurants, SDFC is also mulling an expansion of its current restaurants through franchising, and may consider doing the same with its new fish-focused eateries.

In fiscal year 2017, Bengal’s total fish production amounted to an estimated 1.67 million metric tons (MT), an increase of 220,000 MT from the previous year, and up from about 1.45 million MT in fiscal year 2008. The state has set an ambitious plan to produce more than 1.8 million MT of fish in fiscal year 2018, of which 75 percent will come from fresh water and 25 percent will be from brackish water.

Bengal has categorized its fisheries sector as having prime investment opportunities in the areas of fish production, exports, processing, and fishing tourism.

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