ICAR-CIFRI, Research Centre, Bangalore organized NBFD sponsored,Training of Trainers (ToT) programme on “Reservoir fisheries
management for employment generation”
ICAR- Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI), Research
Centre, Bangalore organized a five days National Fisheries Development
Board (NBFD) sponsored, Training of Trainers programme on “Reservoir
fisheries management for employment generation” at ICAR-NBAIR
Auditorium, Hebbal from 27-31 August, 2018. The programme was
conducted under the guidance of Dr. B. K. Das, Director, ICAR-CIFRI
(Course Director), Dr. Preetha Panikkar, Principal Scientist and Officer In-
charge, ICAR-CIFRI Research Centre, Bangalore (Course Coordinator).
The programme was attended by officers from the fisheries department of
five states viz. Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and
Manipur. Dr. C. K. Murthy, Joint Director of Fisheries (retd), Department
of Fisheries, Govt. of Karnataka and Former Executive Director, NFDB,
Hyderabad, inaugurated the programme by lighting the lamp. He
emphasized that, the inland fisheries sector, particularly reservoirs has
great potential in enhancing fish production and also, generating
employment. He insisted on drafting suitable policies for sustainable
development of reservoir fisheries. Dr. N. Sridhar, Principal Scientist &
Scientist In Charge, Regional Research Center, ICAR-Central Institute of
Freshwater Aquaculture, Bangalore spoke on the Techniques of Quality
seed production and the importance of quality seeds availability for
stocking the reservoirs.
The training programme focused on generating employment through
scientific management of reservoir fisheries, status, scope, challenges in
reservoir fisheries, culture based fisheries, cage culture, species
diversification and conservation in reservoirs. Enumeration of fishes using
hydro-acoustics, electronic data acquisition system, physical and chemical
indicators of water and sediment in reservoirs which are integral parts in
managing the reservoir fisheries were also dealt with.
A lecture on Reservoir Fisheries Development – Initiatives and Future
Directions was delivered by Dr. C. K. Murthy. Dr. K. N. Prabhudeva,
Professor & Head, Fisheries Research Information Centre, Bangalore
delivered a talk on role of fisheries in rural development in India. Feed
management in cage and pen culture to enhance fish production from
reservoirs was presented by Dr.N.Sridhar. Dr. Hemaprasanth gave a
lecture on fish diseases and health management. Mr. Ramakrishna, Joint
Director of Fisheries (Inland), Karnataka narrated his experience on cage
culture in K. R. Sagar reservoir.
Field visit to Manchanbele reservoir was conducted on 29 th August
2018, as a part of the training programme to view the activities of a
reservoir which is successfully managed through culture based fisheries.
Visit was also made to Main research Station, University of Agricultural
Sciences, Bangalore. Dr. B.V. Krishnamurthy, Chief Scientific Officer,
Inland Fisheries, UAS spoke on employment avenues for reservoir fishers
and he explained the activities of the research station on freshwater pearl
culture, GIFT tilapia hatchery, ornamental fish culture unit and
aquaponics. All the scientists of ICAR-CIFRI, Bangalore also delivered
lectures on relevant topics related to reservoir fisheries management.
Dr. Chandish R. Ballal, Director, ICAR-NBAIR, was the chief guest
for the valedictory session. She emphasized that there is immense scope
of employment for the youth in reservoir fisheries sector. Shri.
Ramacharya, Joint Director of Fisheries (Marine), Karnataka addressed
the audience during the session. The participants shared their feedback
about the programme and expressed their interest in working together
with ICAR-CIFRI for the betterment of fisherfolk as a whole and reservoir
fishers in particular. Mr. M. Feroz Khan, Mr. M. Karthikeyan, Dr. Ajoy
Saha, Mrs. Ramya. V. L, Mrs. Sibina Mol S. and Mrs. Jesna. P. K., the
Scientists of ICAR-CIFRI, Research Centre, Bangalore, along with Mr.
Vijaykumar. M. E. (Tech. Asst.) actively participated for the successful
conduct of the programme.