Sri Vijaya Puram, May 23: A three days training programme on Shrimp and Mud Crab Farming jointly organized by the Department of Fisheries, Andaman & Nicobar Administration, and the ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (ICAR-CIBA), Chennai concluded successfully today at the Fisheries Training Centre, Marine Hill. The programme was attended by 25 selected fishermen/fish farmers and other stakeholders from South Andaman and N&M Andaman. The valedictory session was graced by Shri. Ravinder Kumar, Director of Fisheries (i/c) as the chief guest.
The Director of Fisheries in his address acknowledged the ICAR-CIBA team for their effort in successful conduct of the programme. He emphasized the long-term value of such capacity-building initiatives in fostering sustainable aquaculture and urged the participants to take full advantage of Government schemes under PMMSY, especially those aimed at Brackishwater Aquaculture development to target commercially viable species like shrimp, Mud Crab, Mullets, Milk fish, Seabass etc. He reiterated the potential of such programmes to significantly advance brackishwater aquaculture in the region and urged for conducting advanced programmes for better understanding of the partcipants.
Dr. K. Ambasankar addressed the key challenge of limited land availability in private sector for brackishwater aquaculture in the Islands. He informed the gathering that the Department of Fisheries with the technical support of ICAR-CIBA is actively working on facilitating brackishwater land leases to support aquaculture expansion. Dr. A. Panigrahi, Principal Scientist, expressed gratitude to the Director of Fisheries for the opportunity to train local fishers. He emphasized the importance of initiating small-scale pilot projects as a model to inspire broader aquaculture development across the Islands.
The participating trainees expressed their appreciation for the valuable training and shared that it had motivated them to consider venturing into mud crab fattening and shrimp farming. They also requested more hands-on training opportunities to strengthen their practical skills.
A distinguished team of Scientists from ICAR-CIBA led the training sessions. A field visit was also organized to the shrimp farm at Mannarghat and crab fattening unit at Wandoor. This provided participants with valuable hands-on exposure to sustainable aquaculture operations.
Certificates were distributed to all participants by Director of Fisheries during the closing ceremony. Shri G. Amalatheeban, Assistant Director of Fisheries (South Andaman) also spoke on the occasion. The session concluded with a vote of thanks proposed by Shri Soumyadip Paul, AFDO, Department of Fisheries.