Centre Urged To Establish Marine Fishing University in Andhra Pradesh

 Vijayawada: Minister for excise, mines and geology Kollu Ravindra said the Centre has been requested to set up an aqua and marine fishing university in Machilipatnam. Officials of the central environment and fisheries department inspected the works of fishing harbour at Gilakaladindi of Krishna district on Sunday. The minister emphasized the need for adoption of modern and international methods to make significant progress and an increase in aqua production.

He also added that aquaculture will play an important role in providing aqua marine fishing for future generations. The minister suggested that a special university should be established to achieve these goals.

As part of the Global Environment Facility (GEF)- 8 project on sustainable aquaculture in Andhra Pradesh, a central delegation from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) visited the fishing harbour at Gilakaladindi near Machilipatnam on Sunday.

The team, among other things, observed the environmental conditions and later held a meeting with aquaculture farmers to address their issues.

The central team included GEF 8 Project India assistant representative Dr. Konda Chevva, bio-diversity expert and FAO project national coordinator Seema Bhat, lead technical specialist CM Muralidharan, aquaculture specialist Vishnu Bhat, private sector, value chain and sustainable finance specialist Neelakantha Mishra, environmental management specialist Neena Koshhi, and gender, stakeholder engagement, and safeguards specialist Salom Yesudas.

The minister asked the central team members to protect the endangered species of seafish. He pointed out the need to conserve mangroves for coastal protection and emphasized the establishment of a special university. He mentioned that once the modernization works at the Machilipatnam fishing harbour are completed, it will develop into an aqua hub. He highlighted the importance of protecting mangroves to safeguard seafish species and support their reproduction.

He highlighted the concept of ‘Mother Ship’ and its potential to overcome issues faced by fishermen in storing fish products. He said ‘Mother Ship’ would cater for the needs of fishermen like fuel and other requirements for fishing boats during fishing in seas. He also spoke about the need to make solar boats available for fishermen. Stressing this point not just as a minister but as an aqua cultivator, he emphasized that the ‘Mother Ship’ concept would be more helpful to the fishermen once implemented in the state.

The central team lauded Andhra Pradesh for being the biggest aquaculture producer in the country, naming it an aquaculture hub. The project aims to encourage fishermen to engage in sustainable aqua production and address challenges posed by weather changes.