Sri Vijaya Puram, June 5: The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), below the Ministry of Earth Sciences, in collaboration with the Department of Fisheries, A&N Administration and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, at present launched two main technology-driven initiatives geared toward strengthening the Blue Economy and selling sustainable marine useful resource administration on the NIOT – Atal Centre for Ocean Science and Technology (ACOSTI), Sri Vijaya Puram, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The program, comprising a pilot-scale cage tradition and fish seed stocking initiative alongside the deployment of a 3D-printed concrete synthetic reef, was inaugurated by Dr. Chandra Bhushan Kumar, IAS, Chief Secretary, A&N Administration. The Chief Secretary distributed fish seed to beneficiaries and interacted with native fishers, emphasising the significance of translating scientific improvements into tangible advantages for island communities. In his particular tackle, he underscored the necessity for stronger collaboration between scientific establishments and the Administration to assist sustainable livelihoods, know-how switch, and capability constructing throughout the archipelago.
Speaking on the event, Prof. Balaji Ramakrishnan, Director, NIOT, highlighted the launch of those two main marine sustainability initiatives on the Andaman campus. He said that in an revolutionary partnership with IIT Guwahati, the custom-fabricated 3D-printed synthetic reef has been efficiently deployed close to the plant. Professional divers will constantly monitor the construction over the following 12 months to examine organic growth and its optimistic impression on coral progress.
Prof. Ramakrishnan additional introduced that NIOT is investing Rs.15 crore to assemble a state-of-the-art fish broodstock infrastructure at its Sri Vijaya Puram campus. This facility will elevate fish, harvest eggs, and hatch younger fry till they’re resilient sufficient for switch into deep-ocean open fish cages, considerably boosting the native fishing business. These initiatives leverage NIOT’s 20-year legacy of monitoring ocean currents and water high quality through high-frequency (HF) radar methods within the Andaman Islands.
The initiatives are being executed in shut coordination with the Andaman Administration’s Fisheries, Forest, and Science and Technology departments. Furthermore, a specialised committee is being fashioned to combine the knowledgeable enter of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI).
Smt. Pallavi Sarkar, IAS, Secretary (Fisheries) and different senior officers from varied Departments and establishments attended the perform.