CGEWCC, Zonal Base of Fishery Survey of India

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Zonal Base of Fishery Survey of India

Ministry of Agriculture

About Zonal Base of Fishery Survey of India

Introduction

The Fishery Survey of India (formerly Deep Sea Fishing Station/Exploratory Fisheries Project) is the oldest and largest fisheries organization under Ministry of Agriculture of the Government of India. The research and development in fisheries in India can be said to have begun in 1946 with the establishment of the Deep Sea Fishing Station (DSFS) in October 1946 at Bombay. The DSFS was started as a post war development pilot scheme by the Government of India with the aim of augmenting food supply through development of deep sea fishing. This station was conceived as an integrated fisheries project with facilities for fishing, fish preservation, fish marketing, cold storage, ice plant etc.

The main objectives of the station however were charting of fishing grounds and training of deep sea fishing personnel. Realizing the gigantic task ahead of DSFS the Government of India decided to establish a number of such stations on both east and west costs. Accordingly an Offshore Fishing Station (OFS) was established at Cochin in 1957 and two more were at Tuticorin and Visakhapatnam in 1958. The OFSs were established with wooden fishing vessels and a few steel trawlers taken over from maritime states. The OFSs were initially under the direct administrative control of the then Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Government of India. They were later brought under the administrative control of the Superintending Engineer, DSFS, Bombay in 1960. A substation of DSFS was established at Veraval in 1959 and a station at Mangalore in 1962 but were closed down due to operational and other problems. These stations operated 20 fishing vessels including 15 wooden vessels. These vessels gradually became unserviceable for survey work due to ageing and therefore efforts were on to acquire new vessels from abroad as well as indigenously.

20 nos of steel trawlers were taken over during the year 1968 and subsequently 8 OFSs were established at Calcutta(1971), Port Blair(1971), Kandla(1971), Goa(1972), Magalore(1972), Madras(1972) and Paradeep(1972). Subsequently the organization was renamed Exploratory Fisheries Project(EFP) during 1974. With the declaration of the 200 miles EEZ in 1976, the Govt of India acquired 10 larger vessels under various bilateral aid programmes. After the acquisition of these vessels and decommissioning of a few old vessels, the total number of vessels of the organization increased to 30 by 1983. With the completion of the survey of demersal resources upto a depth of 40fm(73m) all along the Indian coast by 20 nos of 17.5 m vessels and with the deployment of newly arrived large survey vessels for the survey of deep sea and oceanic resources, the Govt. of India reviewed the organizational structure and functions and decided to re- organize and upgrade the organization, add more vessels to its survey fleet, strengthen it with infrastructural facilities and scientific manpower and embark upon new activities. As a result the Exploratory Fisheries Project was renamed as Fishery Survey of India (FSI) in 1983 with the Director General as the organizational head. At present the Fishery Survey of India has its Headquarters at Mumbai and seven Zonal Bases at Port Blair, Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Cochin, Mormugoa , Porbander and Mumbai. Fishery Survey of India operates a fleet of 13 survey vessels ranging from 24.0m to 42.5m OAL, with an endurance of 20 days per voyage. The organization has made significant contribution to the introduction of modern fishing vessels, gears and methods in India, the location of rich fishing ground for prawns and fish all along the Indian coast and the survey of the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone for demersal fishery resources upto a depth of 500m and pelagic and oceanic resources in the vast EEZ and beyond.

The Mandate of the Organization

Exploratory surveys, charting of fishing grounds, assessment of fish stocks in the Indian EEZ including adjoining high seas and research thereof besides the specific surveys on request from the States and Union Territories.
Data collection and periodic re- validation of potential of fishery resources to provide advice on fishery management issues enshrined in the national, regional and global conventions and agreements and other associated activities.
Monitoring surveys of fishery resources in the exploited areas including coral reefs, application of Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) for regulating fishing activities and promoting Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF) in the Indian EEZ.
Maintain Data Bank and disseminate information on fishery resources to the end- users and act as an interface between the States/UTs and the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India for marine and inland fish production and related aspects.
Assessment of suitability of fishing gear, accessories and equipment with special reference to the preservation of environment and ecology of marine habitat.
Fish stock identification and biodiversity studies including application of genetic tools and techniques.
Marine fisheries forecasting including application of remote sensing for the benefit of artisanal, mechanized and industrial sectors.
Human Resources Development through practical training of fishing operatives, fishermen, fisheries officers and students.

Port Blair Zonal Base of Fishery Survey of India

Port Blair zonal base of Fishery Survey of India was established in the year 1971 as Offshore Fishing Station and later renamed as Exploratory Fishing Project in the year 1973. During these varying period three medium sized (17.5m OAL) survey vessels viz, Meena Khojini, Meena Prayas and Meena Gaveshak was stationed at this base. These vessels conducted regular survey for demersal and pelagic fishery resources around the Andaman and Nicobar Islands by deploying various fishing gears such as bottom trawling, long lining, and hand lining and collected informations on the distribution and abundance of fishery resources. Subsequently the department was renamed as Fishery Survey of India in 1983. During the year 1983 a larger vessel Matsya Vigyani (32.28m OAL) was stationed at this base to carry out the exploratory survey of A&N waters by deploying purse seining and hand lining. Presently, the vessel M.F.V. Blue Marlin (35.76m OAL) is based at Port Blair on regular basis since 1991 and is continuously engaged in survey of oceanic tunas and allied resources and perch resources in the India EEZ around Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the base has been in the service of these Islands since more than three decades.

Sl. No	Name	Designation	Email Id	Phone No.
1.	Dr. L. Ramalingam	Zonal Director	zdfsipblr[at]yahoo[dot]in	236696 232677

Achievements

Major findings of the base in the recent past

The fishery potential of A&N waters was estimated as 1,48,000T.
Rich ground for Linuparus somniosus(spear lobster) was located for the first time in Andaman waters during the year 1990-91 by Fishery Survey of India and the resources were exploited by the private vessels based on the information given by FSI.
Rich grounds for perch resources in the north east of Diglipur, Long Island, off Hut bay and Battimalv, and east off Trinket Island has been located and the same was disseminated to the end users.
Location and seasonal abundance of high quality tunas were identified and the results were disseminated to the fishing industry.
This base has successfully implemented the tuna tagging programme in the Andaman waters and 1330 nos of tunas were tagged so as to study the migration pattern and other biological aspects of the tunas in the recent past.
As a mandate of FSI this base is continuously imparting training to post institutional trainees sponsored by Central Institute of Fisheries Nautical and Engineering Training (CIFNET) to enable them to achieve required skill and sea service for the competent examination as certified officers by Mercantile Marine Department (MMD).
As a part of departmental project 14 fishermen youths including 12 tribal youths from Nancowry group of Islands and Car Nicobar Island were trained onboard departmental Longliner MFV Blue Marlin in the Latest Technologies of Tuna Longline.

Other Achievements

Dr. A. Anrose, Zonal Director (2006-09) was adjudged as the best Officer- in-Charge and awarded during the Golden Jubilee Celebration of Fishery Survey of India.
The Rolling Trophy (Meenakshi Trophy) for the best performed vessel for the year 2008-09 was bagged by the tuna longliner MFV Blue Marlin of Port Blair base and 9 staff members of the vessel MFV Blue Marlin were awarded as best performed staff during the Golden Jubilee Celebration of Fishery Survey of India.
Shri Nilmohan Das, Machinist, Fishery Survey of India, Port Blair was awarded as the best Machinist during the Golden Jubilee Celebration of Fishery Survey of India.
Fishery Survey of India Port Blair has been awarded the Rolling Shield for securing first position for the implementation of Hindi as Official Language amongst all the Central Government departments in Port Blair by the Town Official Language Implementation Committee (TOLIC) during the year 2007-08 and 2010-11.

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