ICAR-CIFRI Celebrates 77th Foundation Day with Fishermen & Farmers, Honors Achievements in Fisheries Development

The 77th Foundation Day of the Institute was commemorated on March 17, 2023, at the headquarters of ICAR-CIFRI Barrackpore. Since 1947, ICAR-CIFRI has been conducting research, training, and extension programs in inland open seas to promote the holistic development of fisheries.

This humble beginning was followed by several epoch-making technologies, including Composite Fish Culture, Reservoir Fisheries Management Guidelines, Conservation of Hilsa and Other Riverine Fish Species, Enclosure Culture, River Ranching programs, and the development and commercialization of different products.

During a cake-cutting ceremony, the foundation day celebration was formally launched. Together with students and CIFRI employees, the celebration included approximately 100 fish farmers and fishermen from WSHGs. The farmer-focused program began with a welcome address from Dr. B. K. Das, Director, CIFRI.

He informed the audience about the accomplishments made by the institute over the course of the last 76 fruitful years on various aspects of enhancing fisheries in inland open waters, including conservation measures executed for reviving or conserving riverine fish species, and presented these to the fishers communities throughout India.

At today's event, Shri A. Singh, IAS, Secretary, West Bengal Department of Fisheries, served as the honorary guest. He expanded on many of the West Bengal government's fisheries policies and programs in his speech. Dr. Dhriti Banerjee, Director, ZSI MoEF&CC in Kolkata, lauded ICAR-CIFRI for its support of the growth of fisheries and urged the preservation of fisheries in a war footing manner.

At this event, other dignitaries like Dr. D. B. Shakyawar, Director of the ICAR-NINFET in Kolkata, and Dr. Gouranga Kar, Director of the ICAR-CRIJAF in Barrackpore, are also present. On this occasion, dignitaries released several publications, including Nilanjali, CIFRI NEWS, and a booklet on mapping Telangana's water bodies.

A farmer-scientist interaction was organized and the progressive fish farmers shared their knowledge with the other participants.

An institutional tour was also conducted, in order to provide local school kids, the chance to learn about various CIFRI technologies, including those based on IOT, and to help them develop their future career goals.