9th January 2025, Kochi
Shri George Kurian, Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, inaugurated the Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Seaweeds at the Mandapam Regional Centre of ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute today. The Govt. of India recently designated ICAR-CMFRI Mandapam as the Centre of Excellence for the holistic development and promotion of seaweed culture in the country.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister highlighted that the CoE will significantly boost seaweed cultivation in India. He emphasized ICAR-CMFRI’s key role in advancing marine fisheries and mariculture, noting that this development will further enhance the growth of the fisheries sector.
The Minister also inaugurated the Seaweed Plantlet Production Unit at the Mandapam Centre under the CoE and toured various facilities at the Mandapam Regional Centre of ICAR-CMFRI, including the Seaweed Plantlet Production Unit, Marine Hatchery Complex, National Marine Fish Brood Bank, Recirculatory Aquaculture System (RAS), Sea Cage Farm, Green Tiger Shrimp Hatchery (established under the PMMSY scheme), Marine Biodiversity Museum, and Marine Aquarium.
During his interaction with fishers and fish farmers, Shri Kurian highlighted the remarkable increase in India’s fish production over the past decade, from 95.79 lakh tons to 175.45 lakh tons. He also spoke about the government’s efforts to improve the sector through various schemes.
Dr Grinson George, Director, ICAR-CMFRI, commended the Union Fisheries Department for its efforts in advancing the mariculture sector and outlined plans for strengthening collaboration with the ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana, Thiruchirapalli, in seaweed tissue culture programmes.
Dr R. Selvarajan, Director, NRC Banana, and Dr Dileep Kumar, Chairman, Research Advisory Committee (RAC), ICAR-CMFRI, also graced the occasion.
More than 150 fishers, fish farmers, and seaweed farmers from Ramanathapuram and Pudukottai districts of Tamil Nadu attended the interactive meeting.
(Source: ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi)
