Shankar Singh (in white) collects fish from the pond at Jhanjharpur in Madhubani. Telegraph picture

Shankar Singh has displayed the patience and grit of an angler for nearly two decades and fished a big catch that can be a model for hundreds of fish farmers like him.

Braving all odds that life had in store for him, the fish farmer from Daiya Kharwar village in the Jhanjharpur sub-division of Madhubani district, around 175km north of Patna, the fish farmer has set up a hatchery of his own over 10 years. Singh’s labour in pisciculture has not gone in vain. Besides being a successful entrepreneur, around 60 people work in his hatchery that has become an inspiration for hundreds of fish farmers in the village. People come to him for expertise and assistance, both in terms of technique and finance. He also received the best fish farmer’s award, National Fish Farmer’s Day Award, on July 10 this year at Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute in Barrackpore, Bengal. The state government has, on its part, made a documentary, Safalta ki Kahaani, on his hatchery.

For the 44-year-old man, fish farming was not his first preference as vocation. Like any other youth of his age, Singh had dreamt of a job. Despite doing his Intermediate in science, he could not bag any. Instead of losing patience, he tried his luck in fish farming. That was two decades ago.

“I started fish farming way back in 1990. I used to rear big fishes like rohu, katla and naini in my two ponds spread across an area of six acres. It was only in 2001 that I started producing seeds. I used to bring spawns (seeds that are 72-hour old) from a hatchery in Darbhanga, rear them for a year and sell them as fingerlings (45-60-day-old),” Singh said.

“In 2002, I started a hatchery. It was in the same year that that I thought of setting up my own hatchery. I tried for bank loans but could not get any. Finally, I arranged loans of nearly Rs 12 lakh on my own. I finally started my hatchery in 2004. I consulted then fisheries extension officer Tuntun Singh in Darbhanga for guidance,” he added.

Singh said: “There are four hatcheries in the village. A fifth one is about to start. These register an annual turnover of about Rs 4 crore. My unit does a business of Rs 1 crore. In a year, we produce about 500 crore spawns and we have 22 ponds spread acoss 60 acres. Of them, 16 are used for storing fry seeds (20-45-day-old), four for broods (adult fish that are ready to breed) and two for fry seeds that are later sold.”