Its enormous water resources notwithstanding, Assam continues to be a deficit State in fish production. This is a drawback that can be traced to inadequate planning and implementation. Traditionally, fishery has been among the most neglected sectors and over the years little has been done to tap its immense potential. Lack of technical intervention and training to those engaged in the fishery sector has come in the way of the growth of the sector. Given the natural advantage that we have in the form of innumerable wetlands, we should have been in the forefront of fish production, but the actual picture contradicts the prospects. While fishing is a traditional practice in Assam with lakhs of families dependent on this for their livelihood, there has hardly been any meaningful effort at rejuvenating pisciculture through scientific management of the wetlands, locally called beels. Whereas, scientific fish rearing and management of the beels can go a long way in transforming these wetlands into vibrant income-generating avenues, this cannot just ensure livelihood to lakhs of people, but can generate a huge amount of revenue for the State as well. In view of the possibilities offered by pisciculture, the State Government should accord priority to the fishery sector. First, it has to identify the constraints plaguing the sector and then evolve a mechanism to address those. Short-term measures apart, there should be long-tern efforts so that pisciculture emerges as a sustainable income-generating exercise. There is an urgent need to expose the fishing community to modern, scientific methods of fish rearing and management for augmenting production. Experts believe that scientific management of the beels can double the fish yield per hectare, which is quite low at the moment. This low productivity ensures that the fishing communities do not get adequate returns for their toil. Along with this, what also needs to be ensured is a steady flow of investment in the sector. In recent days, the State Bank of India had entered into an agreement with the Assam Fisheries Development Corporation (AFDC) for providing affordable finance to fishing communities for development of the beels. More such endeavours should be facilitated for enabling the marginalised and cash-starved fishermen to get much-needed finance. Lack of access to institutional finance has been a bane for the poor fishermen, often compelling them to approach private moneylenders who charge exorbitant rates of interest.