The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, in collaboration with the Fisheries Department of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, today launched two major technology-driven initiatives aimed at strengthening the Blue Economy and promoting sustainable marine resource management at the NIOT - Atal Centre for Ocean Science and Technology (ACOSTI), Sri Vijaya Puram, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

 

The program, comprising a pilot-scale cage culture and fish seed stocking initiative alongside the deployment of a 3D-printed concrete artificial reef, was inaugurated by Dr. Chandra Bhushan Kumar, Chief Secretary, Andaman and Nicobar Administration. The Chief Secretary distributed fish seed to beneficiaries and interacted with local fishers, emphasising the importance of translating scientific innovations into tangible benefits for island communities. In his Special address, he underscored the need for stronger collaboration between scientific institutions and the Administration to support sustainable livelihoods, technology transfer, and capacity building across the archipelago.

 

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Balaji Ramakrishnan, Director, NIOT, highlighted the launch of these two major marine sustainability initiatives at the Andaman campus. He stated that in an innovative partnership with IIT Guwahati, the custom-fabricated 3D-printed artificial reef has been successfully deployed near the plant. Professional divers will continuously monitor the structure over the next year to study biological development and its positive impact on coral growth.

Prof. Ramakrishnan further announced that NIOT is investing Rs. 15 crore to construct a state-of-the-art fish broodstock infrastructure at its Sri Vijaya Puram campus. This facility will raise fish, harvest eggs, and hatch young fry until they are resilient enough for transfer into deep-ocean open fish cages, significantly boosting the local fishing industry. These initiatives leverage NIOT's 20-year legacy of monitoring ocean currents and water quality via high-frequency (HF) radar systems in the Andaman Islands.

The projects are being executed in close coordination with the Andaman Administration's Fisheries, Forest, and Science and Technology departments. Furthermore, a specialized committee is being formed to integrate the expert input of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI).

 

Among those present were Smt. Pallavi Sarkar, Secretary (Fisheries), Dr. S. Dinesh Kannan, Chief Conservator of Forests, Department of Environment and Forests, Smt. Jagtap Kalyani Rajendra, Director (Fisheries),  Dr. Sandip Mukhopadhyay, Programme Director, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Dr. Basanta Kumar Jena, Deputy Director, NIOT, Dr. G. Dharani, Group Director, NIOT, Dr. Dilip Kumar Jha, Project Director, ACOSTI-NIOT and Dr. Biranchi Panda, Assistant Professor, IIT Guwahati, along with senior officials from various departments and institutions.

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