CIFRI Awards
The ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (ICAR-CIFRI), Barrackpore and Directorate of Fisheries (DoF), Govt. of Assam jointly organized an Interactive meeting on ‘Openwater fisheries development in Assam’ on 21.07.2022 at Meen Bhawan, Guwahati.
It was inaugurated by Mr. Rakesh Kumar, IAS, Commissioner & Secretary to Govt. of Assam, Fisheries etc. departments. He appreciated past collaborative activities by both the organizations and urged them to continue to work together for open water fisheries development for enhancement and conservation of the resources. The programme was organized under the overall guidance of Dr. B. K. Das, Director, ICAR-CIFRI, Barrackpore; Shri N. K. Debnath, ACS, Director of Fisheries, Assam and Dr. B. K. Bhattacharjya, Head (Acting), ICAR-CIFRI Regional Centre, Guwahati. The programme was attended by Director of ICAR-CIFRI, all the Scientists and technical personnel of ICAR-CIFRI Regional Centre, Guwahati; officials from DoF, FISHFED, AFDC Ltd. and other stakeholders. 
Representatives from local print & media were also present. Dr. Dhurba Jyoti Sharma, Managing Director, FISHFED-cum- Nodal Officer, APART, DoF, Assam anchored the whole programme and explained the purpose of the day-long programme. Shri J.P. Medhi, Joint Director of Fisheries, Assam welcomed the guests and participants and felicitated the dignitaries. Shri Rakesh Kumar, IAS, Commissioner & Secretary to Govt. of Assam, Fisheries Department urged both the organizations to work together for development of fisheries sector of the state. Shri Prasanta Borkakati, ACS, Managing Director, AFDC Ltd.,Guwahati stated that ICAR-CIFRI and AFDC have been working closely for development of beel fisheries under the administrative control of AFDC. Due to recent technological interventions of ICAR-CIFRI, the production from the beels has increased considerably. He opined that it was possible because of the guidance of Director,
ICAR-CIFRI and initiative of Head, ICAR-CIFRI RC, Guwahati and his team. Dr. B. K. Das explained about recent development in inland openwater fisheries of the country and recent initiatives of the institute in Assam and other states. He felt that ICAR-CIFRI can be a knowledge partner for development of beel fisheries in Assam. He also spoke about commercialized products developed by ICAR-CIFRI for openwater fisheries (CIFRI-CAGEGROW feed, CIFRI HDPE PEN, CIFRI GI-CAGE, etc.). Two theme lectures were presented on the occasion. Dr. R. Ch. Barman, Mission Director, FMS-CMSGUY gave a presentation on “Recent initiatives of Department of Fisheries, Assam in openwater fisheries development and its 
future road map". Dr. B.K. Bhattacharjya gave a presentation on ‘Recent ICAR-CIFRI initiatives for R&D of openwater fisheries of Assam’. During the interactions, Dr. R. Suresh, Resident Consultant, WorldFish appreciated the steps taken by ICAR-CIFRI and the DoF to sit together and interact on the subject in a focused manner. He also briefed about the activities under the fisheries component of APART project. Scientists of ICAR-CIFRI, DoF officials and other stakeholders actively took part in the interaction session held in the afternoon. In his concluding remarks, Director, ICAR-CIFRI urged both the Institute to join hands for enhanced fish production of the state by utilizing openwater fisheries of the state. The programme ended with a formal vote of thanks proposed by Shri J.P. Medhi, Joint Director of Fisheries, Assam.
