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Harvest of IMTA cages at Harwada, Uttara Kannada under All India Network Project on Mariculture

In an event much to the jubilation of the fishermen community in Uttara Kannada, a harvest festival was held at Harwada on 13^th May 2022. A total of 300 kg of seabass, 100 kg of pompano and 150 kg of green mussels were harvested from Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture (IMTA) demonstration cages under the All India Network Project- AINP(M) at Harwada, Uttara Kannada. Dr A Gopalakrishnan, Director, ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) inaugurated the harvest after 135 days of culture.

Shri Vigneswara Prasanna, a self-help group of fishermen, carried out the IMTA in two 6 m diameter galvanised iron marine cages at Harwada, Uttara Kannada under the technical guidance of Karwar Regional Station of ICAR-CMFRI. These cages were stocked with seabass (Lates calcarifer) and silver pompano (Trachinotus blochii) for farming. Seeded ropes of green mussels were also tied on the outer frame of these two marine cages for IMTA demonstration. Due to unfavourable weather forecast the farmers were forced to go for an early harvest of fishes.

CMFRI adjudged as best research institute under ICAR

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CMFRI wins ICAR’s highest award

The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has been adjudged as the best research institute of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The CMFRI won the Sardar Patel Outstanding ICAR institutions award, the highest award of the ICAR in the category of the large institutions with a cash prize of Rs 10 Lakhs, a Silver Plaque, Certificate and Citation.This is in recognition of CMFRI’s excellent performance in marine fisheries research during the period from 2014 to 2019.

Certificate

This is the second time CMFRI bagging this prestigious award. Various cutting edge research activities including development of mariculture technologies such as open sea cage fish farming, seaweed farming, integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) and breeding and seed production technologies for marine food fish and ornamental fishes which were aimed to enhance the income of fishermen helped CMFRI achieving the highest ranking among more than 110 agricultural and allied research institutes in the country. CMFRI’s efforts on preparing a range of policy guidelines, including the works on minimum legal size (MLS), National Policy on Mariculture and ecosystem-based management towards the sustainable utilization of marine fisheries resources were well appreciated. Its research initiatives in developing nutraceutical products from marine organisms to treat type 2 diabetes, arthritis, obesity, thyroid and hypertension also played a major role in winning the award. In addition, the institute exhibited leadership in winning several externally funded research projects such as National Brood bank for Cobia and Silver pompano and a Centre of Excellence and Innovation  funded by the DBT. The institute also obtained many patents during the period.