HomeLATEST NEWS

ICAR-ICMFRI Turns 75; Launches Year-Long Anniversary Celebration Campaign

The ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) turned 75 years on 3rd February 2022.  On the occasion, the institute kick-started one-year-long campaign that includes various activities to mark the platinum jubilee celebrations.Established in 1947, the ICAR-CMFRI has been playing a pivotal role in stewarding India’s marine fishery resources since its inception. Over the past seven and half decades, the CMFRI which joined the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in 1967, has grown significantly in size and stature emerging as a leading tropical marine fisheries research hub in the world. 

During the foundation day celebration, Dr J K Jena, Deputy Director General of the ICAR was the chief guest. He urged the CMFRI scientists to prioritise their focus of research in accordance with the urgent need of the society and the nation. “The Central Government is focusing on strengthening mariculture based alternative livelihood options like seaweed farming, marine ornamental fish culture etc. This would offer better livelihood option to the coastal communities and thereby supporting the country’s economy”, he said.Dr A Gopalakrishnan, Director of ICAR-CMFRI said that the institute broadened its objectives by diversifying towards potentially rewarding arenas such as mariculture, genetic and biotechnological applications. Keeping tab of the changes in the sector, research on climate change and bioprospecting will also be strengthened, he said.

Elaborating on the future plan of the institute, Dr Gopalakrishnan further said: “Given that mariculture is going to be a game changer in ensuring future fish production and also in providing income and employment security for coastal fishers, the ICAR-CMFRI will focus on precision mariculture with the aid of smart tools and automation with Artificial Intelligence (AI)”. Apart from this, a number of emerging areas of importance include marine environment management, marine biodiversity research, marine spatial planning, species identification and description, marine pollution research, fish disease diagnosis and control, resource monitoring and assessment, socioeconomics and so on, he added.

The logo for the year-long celebration was unveiled on the occasion. A theme song also was released.                         

Awareness programme on jellyfish sting management for seaweed cultivators at Sambai, Rameswaram under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav Initiative

On July 14, 2022, an awareness programme on jellyfish sting management at Sambai fishing village, Rameswaram, was organised for seaweed farmers as a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav initiative of the Government of India. The programme was presided over by Dr. G. Tamilmani, Head in Charge of Mandapam Regional Centre of ICAR-CMFRI, and he distributed the "Jellysafe" first aid kit to fisherwomen. Dr. R. Saravanan, Senior Scientist, explained about the different jellyfish found in Palk Bay and the jellyfish sting management using the first aid kit "JellySafe." Nearly 46 fisherwomen who are involved in seaweed cultivation attended the programme. The ward councillor, Ms. Thillai Pushpam, and village seaweed cultivator group leaders, Mr. M. Murugesan and Ms. Murugeswari facilitated the event. This awareness programme was organised under the ongoing in-house project on jellyfish bloom dynamics in India's coastal and marine ecosystems (MB/JBD/32).

Kochi Town Official Language Implementation Committee Trophies For CMFRI

ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi bagged Rolling Trophy – First position for the period 2020-21 for excellent implementation of Official Language among the Central Govt. Organizations in Kochi Town.  Institute also bagged Rolling Trophy – First position for Half yearly Hindi In House Magazine ‘Matsyagandha’. In the Half yearly meeting of Kochi TOLIC held at Income Tax Office, Cochin on 28.06.2022 Shri Manjit Singh, IRS, Commissioner of Income Tax distributed Trophies. Shri Hareesh Nair, Chief Administrative Officer (Senior Grade) and Smt. E.K.Uma, CTO (Hindi) received the Trophies on behalf of the Institute.

ICAR-CMFRI Organises Stakeholder Workshop In Kochi

The ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research (CMFRI), Kochi organised a stakeholder workshop on Kerala Marine Fisheries and Sustainable Development on 5th July 2022. The workshop was aimed at creating awareness among the stakeholders about the need to maintain sustainability in Kerala’s marine fisheries sector. Representatives of various fishermen association, scientists from ICAR-CMFRI and ICAR-CIFT, and officials from the Department of Fisheries, Govt. of Kerala and NETFISH-MPEDA attended the workshop. Dr P Laxmilatha, Head of Shellfish Fisheries Division of ICAR0-CMFRI made introductory remarks. Shri. Charles George, President of Matsyathozhilali Aikya Vedi presided over the meet.

The workshop called for strict measures to curb juvenile fishing for maintaining sustainability. It also highlighted that the implementation of the Minimum Legal Size (MLS) regulations by the Kerala government followed by the recommendation of the ICAR-CMFRI had a significant impact in the sector. The need for uniform implementation of the MLS regulation across the coastal states of the country was also mooted in the workshop.Dr T M Najmudeen, Principal Scientist of ICAR-CMFRI, Dr N Aswathy, Principal Scientist of ICAR-CMFRI, Dr M V Baiju, Principal Scientist of ICAR-CIFT and N K Santhosh of NETFISH- MPEDA presented their topics.  M S Saju, Joint Director of the State Fisheries Department and T V Jayan, Secretary of Traditional Fishermen Forum also spoke on the occasion.