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ICAR-CMFRI honours Thripthi Shetty and Deepa Manoj for their inspiring role as aqua entrepreneurs

The ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) honoured Thripthi Shetty and Deepa Manoj who defied all odds and emerged as successful women entrepreneurs in fisheries. Both of them fought hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic and managed to earn a decent income from their entrepreneurial initiatives in ornamental fish culture and trade. In recognition of their unwavering spirit and relentless efforts, Dr A Gopalakrishnan, Director of CMFRI felicitated them at a function held on the occasion of International Women’s Day by the Women’s Cell of the Institute on 8th March 2023. Thripthi Shetty, a transwoman from Kadungallur near Aluva, is a beneficiary of the CMFRI’s Science Technology Innovation Hub project. She earns around 50% of her additional income from the ornamental fish culture enterprise named Thripthi Aquatics.  Though she suffered heavy losses owing to the pandemic-induced lockdown, Thripthi did not give up her dream of starting her own business. Her perseverance paid off and her business gradually grew. An undeterred Thripthi showed her grit and determination during the toughest time to tide over various hurdles, including challenges in the ornamental fisheries. Thripthi now manages to run a fully-fledged venture that focuses on breeding ornamental varieties and their culture and marketing. Recovering from the COVID loss and developing a financially stable business enterprise was never easier for her. “ICAR-CMFRI’s support was crucial to surviving the difficult phase and it gave me the necessary strength to go ahead with my dream”, she said.  She married transgender M Rithik.

Deepa Manoj’s success lies in her incredible leadership and management skills that helped her build a thriving business that provides a livelihood to numerous women in her community. A native of Keezhillam near Perumbavoor, Deepa started her venture with a small ornamental fish unit. Later, she expanded it by attracting unemployed women in her neighbourhood into the business. This was achieved after Deepa formed their groups, gave training to them on ornamental fish culture and breeding and developed a better market chain for these ornamentals. Her efforts to educate others yielded results as her enterprise, Atlanta Fish Farm, now provides livelihood to a number of people in her locality and offers a variety of ornamental fishes in hundreds of tanks. Creating awareness among the women in the community of the possibility of earning income through ornamental fisheries was the turning point in her transformation into a successful entrepreneur. Under her leadership, women groups manage to breed and culture commercially important ornamental varieties.Kochi Corporation Councillor Padmaja S Menon was the chief guest at the function. She opined that empowered women would bring in changes in society. CMFRI Women Cell Chairperson Dr Miriam Paul Sreeram and Member Secretary Dr Sandhya Sukumaran also spoke on the occasion.   

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.                         

ICAR-CMFRI Wins Two ICAR Awards

The ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has won national recognition with the institute bagging two national-level awards instituted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

The ICAR-CMFRI won the Best Annual Report award (2020) in the category of ICAR large institutes while Dr Anusree M, a Ph D scholar at CMFRI bagged the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for PG Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Research in Agricultural and Allied Sciences for 2021. The annual report contains key information on the institute’s research activities and outputs in a year.  This is the second time within seven years the CMFRI’s annual report is selected as the national best.

Dr Anusree was designated for the award for her doctoral thesis on the topic ‘Characterization and Evaluation of Small Molecular Bioactives and Polysaccharides from the Phaeophytic Marine Macroalga Sargassum wightii (family Sargassaceae) as Defense Metabolites against Oxidative Stress-Induced Diseases’. Her research works involved in developing potential pharmacophores and nutraceuticals with anti-dyslipidemic, anti-diabetic, and anti-hypertensive activities from seaweeds, under the guidance of Dr Kajal Chakraborty, Principal Scientist of CMFRI. The award includes a cash prize of Rs. 50,000, citation, certificate, and a silver medal.

The ICAR- CMFRI was selected for the awards from among 114 institutes in India under the ICAR.  The institute had won the Sardar Patel Outstanding ICAR institutions award, the highest award of the ICAR, in 2020.

The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has won the first position in the latest ranking of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in the category of Fisheries and Animal Science institutes in the country. The Institute also secured the third position in the ranking of the 93 institutes under all divisions of Crop Science, Horticultural Science, Natural Resource Management, Agricultural Engineering, Animal Science and Fisheries Science.  The ranking was based on research and other activities of the institutes during 2019-2021. 

Also, the CMFRI ranked the highest in the ICAR institutes headquartered in Kerala. “This achievement is seen as a recognition for collective efforts of the CMFRI family in research and development activities for the sustainable growth of the country’s marine fisheries”, said Director Dr A Gopalakrishnan. In addition, attempts to popularise mariculture activities like cage fish and seaweed farming, technology development for breeding of commercially important fishes, research initiatives to develop nutraceutical products from marine organisms, efforts for making relevant policies, studies on socio-economics of the sector and extension activities among many others have helped CMFRI to achieve this feat, he said.Kochi headquartered CMFRI has regional research centres in Veraval, Karwar, Mangalore, Kozhikode, Vizhinjam, Chennai, Tuticorin, Mandapam, Visakhapatnam and Digha.  

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