CIFRI Awards
ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI), Barrackpore, Kolkata, a premier research institute with the mandate of research in inland open waters was awarded third prize in the 6th Indian International Science Festival-2020 under the domain ‘Nav Bharat Nirman - Building self-reliant SMART Villages for Inclusive Growth’.
Fish-based tourism model in River Cauvery at Hogenakkal, Tamil Nadu was studied by ICAR-CIFRI and an in-house presentation was made. Inspired by the successful fish-based tourism in Hogenakkal, Dr B. K. Das, Director, ICAR-CIFRI suggested taking forward the idea as ‘Fish-tourism village’ (an amalgamation of fish tourism, rural tourism, eco-tourism and food tourism) through adoption of tourism as an additional livelihood by the inland fishers. Tourism is one such occupation which inland fishers can adopt with their existing skills and can also create awareness about aquatic ecosystems among tourists.
The concept of ‘Fish-tourism village’ intends at the holistic development of inland fishers’ in a sustainable way. The concept suggests the adoption of tourism with various activities such as disply of local fishes in the aquariums, native fish diversity museums, fish observatories, traditional fish delicacies, promotion of fish as nutri-food, ranching of native fish and cage culture to ensure continuous supply of fresh fish besides the water sport activities, supported by the men and women of the fishing community to address the issues of low income of inland fishers, conservation of aquatic ecosystem and its biodiversity, women empowerment, migration and hidden hunger among the fishers. Possible sources of fund necessary for successful implementation of this concept were also mentioned in this model.
The award was presented to a team of scientists Mr. Lohith Kumar K, Dr Aparna Roy, Dr Ranjan Kumar Manna, Dr Srikanta Samanta and Dr Basanta Kumar Das in the event that was jointly organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Earth Sciences & Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA) during 22nd to 25th December 2020 through virtual mode. Over 10 lakh young scientists, students, and technocrats from across the world participated in this event to exchange knowledge and ideas.
