Anglers in the region have not been able to spin their reels at Tribeni, the confluence of the Teesta and the Rangit rivers, because of alleged objections from the Bengal forest department.

Angling is a popular sport in the region and has the potential to attract international tourists as golden mahseer, a much sought-after trophy fish, is found in the Teesta and the Rangit.

“Over the past five-six months, the forest department stopped us from angling at Tribeni,” said Jigmee Nadikpa, the president of the Himalayan Angling Conservation Trust (HACT).

Tribeni is 16km from Kalimpong.

Although angling can be done anywhere, most of the anglers in the region, especially those in Kalimpong and Sikkim, prefer to go to Tribeni given its ideal location for the sport and easy connectivity.

“Our Trust has more than 300 members from Kalimpong, Kurseong and Sikkim and many of them had been fishing in the area for years until the recent ban,” said Nadikpa.

The forest department, however, clarified that it had not banned angling. “We have restricted entry inside the reserve forest,” said Pankaj Suryawanshi, the Darjeeling divisional forest officer.

“Nevertheless, we are looking at regulating entry through permits and the matter is with the higher authority for consideration,” said Suryawanshi.

The anglers said other activities like rafting, camping and picnic were allowed on the river banks at Tribeni.

Nadikpa alleged that forest guards did not permit angling even in the area where other activities were allowed.

In 2014, the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration had taken up an initiative to promote angling tourism at Tribeni and started the process of issuing licences for anglers. The initiative was taken after the anglers had briefed the hill body on the tourism potential surrounding the golden mahseer.

“Golden mahseer is known as the aquatic tiger of the Asian sub-continent and is a much sought-after trophy fish. It is one of the toughest game fish (fish caught for sport) around. When you say golden mahseer can be fished, hundreds of foreigners will be rushing to the place,” Chandan Gupta, director of Rogue Anglers’ Company, which promotes angling in the country, had earlier said.

A golden mahseer is known to be a strong fish and can weigh up to 40kg which makes it difficult catch.

Sources have said there are about 10 lakh registered rod and reel anglers in India. Angling is considered as a component of high-end tourism with clients from the UK, the USA, Israel, the Netherlands and Russia visiting India for the sport.

In India, angling tourism is popular in Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

Most anglers do not take away the catch but merely measure and take photos with the fish before releasing the same.

“We, too, adopt the same practice in the region with the golden mahseer. We regularly release fishlings in rivers, closely monitor fishes and maintain a log of our empirical findings, apart from opposing bad practises like gill nets, use of dynamite, electro-fishing and calcium hypochlorite (bleach),” said Nadikpa.