New Delhi: The government has withdrawn a May 2017 notification that had imposed new rules for maintenance and trade of aquarium fish and which had angered sections of ornamental fish traders who viewed them as unrealistic and a threat to their livelihood.

The Union environment ministry on Thursday withdrew the May 23 notification - GSR 493 (E) - under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Aquarium and Fish Tank Animals Shop) Rules, 2017, that specified multiple regulatory requirements for ornamental fish traders.

The decision comes at a time the government is also mulling a revision of a second notification issued the same day - GSR 494 (E) - that banned the sale of cattle for slaughter in the marketplace.

Members of the West Bengal Ornamental Fish Association had earlier this year expressed concern about the rules that required every fish trader to pay Rs 5,000 and register with the Animal Welfare Board and prescribed specific standards for the maintenance of fish in tanks.

"Many ornamental fish traders live below the poverty line - they cannot afford to register or maintain the strict standards which are unrealistic in their circumstances," Patit Paban Halder, a member of the Association, told The Telegraph from Chandernagore.

"It is good to hear the notification has been withdrawn," Halder said.

Association members said the notified rules required fish to be maintained in water tanks of specified sizes, kept protected from sunlight through adequate provisions for shades and partitioned appropriately within tanks and during transport.

The members said the rules required traders to engage fishery experts who would monitor the living conditions of the fish in their tanks and record levels of oxygen and nutrients in the tanks. The rules also required traders to maintain records of every fish bought and sold.

"These were unrealistic rules that would have imposed heavy costs on us," said Somnath Mayur, a Howrah-based trader in ornamental fish, who has supplied aquarium fish to different parts of India for 32 years. "Many traders would not have been able to afford to engage fishery experts."

Several thousands of people across Bengal, Mayur added, depend on ornamental fish trade for their livelihood.

The notification on cattle - GSR 494 (E) - had angered sections of India's cattle traders who have approached courts saying the ban on the sale of cattle in livestock markets violated constitutional rights and would destroy the country's meat and leather industry.

The ban on the sale of cattle in livestock markets effectively meant cattle would need to be procured for slaughter directly from farmers. Industry members say this would choke 90 per cent of the supply chain.

In June this year, environment minister Harsh Vardhan had said the cattle notification was intended to address concerns relating to cruelty to animals and was not aimed at either changing anyone's food habits or obstructing any section of trade or industry.

Senior environment officials have indicated that the government is examining the notification for possible modifications or revisions to take into account some of the representations it has received from various sections of the trade and industry.