The Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (Kufos) and the Fisheries department will join hands to develop a sustainable fisheries culture for the State and reorient aquaculture strategies.
Fisheries think-tank from across the country comprising scientists, industrialists, and farmers will gather at the university on January 6 and 7 for a national seminar on reorienting strategies towards sustainable aquaculture and fisheries.
Vice Chancellor of the university K. Riji John said around 300 scientists, industrialists, farmers and fisheries department officials will participate in the conference.
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Fisheries Minister and Pro-Chancellor of Kufos Saji Cherian will inaugurate the national conference. Former Fisheries Minister K. Babu, MLA, will preside at the inaugural. R. Ramkumar, State Planning Board member, will deliver the keynote address.
“Kufos is the first fisheries and ocean studies university in the country and has enormous responsibility to play a key role in reorienting Indian aquaculture scenario to meet the new challenges by setting up a better State-level model, which can multiply the income of the farming community in a sustainable way,” said Dr. John.
“The conference is being organised against this backdrop envisaging to provide an ideal platform for researchers, academicians, farmers, industrialists and policy makers to take forward the concept of sustainability,” he added.
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While the aquaculture sector is growing fast, there are concerns about the environmental implications of the industry, which pose a question over sustainability. These are also related to diseases, stock loss, climate change and environmental degradation, among others. A sustainable aquaculture strategy needs to ensure farmers earned a fair reward from farming while causing no or minimum damage to the surrounding ecosystem, Dr. John said.