Srinagar, Jan 09: One should not be blamed if one’s mouth waters on the mere mention of the Kashmiri trout. It is a delicacy that must be enjoyed. To be relished in the best of company. Its glory is enhanced with an additional touch to it by the Kashmiri cooks who are widely respected for their proven culinary skills. If it is mixed with water from the Harvan, where in Srinagar district, to the best of one’s knowledge, it was provided its first exclusive reserve, or, from the Chashma-e-Shahi, it would tickle anybody’s tastebuds. A newspaper report from London, therefore, that the trout from our State might soon find its way to the British Capital should not surprise anyone. Trouts are available in the United Kingdom as well. They can’t be as good as those from our land. The State definitely has a rare and better quality of water not found anywhere. At least, we tend to believe that. It is not sheer parochialism. A large number of pilgrims and tourists, who throng the State every year, can vouch for this. The news that the trout, bred on this water, would find its takers in a foreign land is a further confirmation of this eternal truth. What is a fish without water? What should concern us, however, is that whether we have enough trout to export. If the official figures were to be believed, the production of trout during the last 50 years has been hardly encouraging. In 1950-51, it was just 1.2 metric tonnes. That, too, in the streams that were an angler’s paradise. Although the latest figures about its availability in the streams are not immediately available — it is doubtful whether there can ever be an exact census in this case — its total present production in farms is said to be 100 metric tonnes. This is only a marginal improvement over the preceding years. In a difficult situation created by terrorism, the farm production of trout was recorded at 40 metric tonnes in 1997-98, when its collection from the other sources was 5.4 metric tonnes. In view of these figures, one should be careful when one talks of the farm production of this rarest of rare fish ‘shooting up’ to 500 metric tonnes, which means a five times’ increase over the present yield. This rather high figure is mentioned in the London report, which is attributed to a State Government official. This increase in yield is intended to be achieved with the help of feedmills made by the Dutch. . It will, indeed, be a miracle if that happens soon. For, the existing number of trout farms is 24, which is only one more than their total just six years ago. Admittedly, the obnoxious phenomenon of terrorism has played havoc with every walk of life in the State. Poor fish are no exception. Including the trout, which is otherwise rich in content. All that we should do is to be careful while selling grandiose ideas to the other countries. A better course perhaps would be to increase the trout production and stabilise it at some level. Its adequate availability needs to be ensured in the State and the country before exploiting its export potential. Proceeding in the reverse direction might expose the country to some risk of losing its credibility as there were unlikely to be enough trouts around to meet the demand. By all means, we should let the others savour this specialty of the State. In the process, however, we should move cautiously. We should not do anything that lends our trout a bad name.