Tamil Nadu plans to set up a fisheries university in Nagapattinam district at a cost of around Rs 30 crore.

The proposed university will be constructed in 85 acres in Panankudi and Nagoor villages. Initially, five institutions, including the Fisheries College and Research Institute at Tuticorin, will be affiliated with the proposed university, Tamil Nadu chief minister Ms J. Jayalaithaa said in the Assembly today.

With a coastline of 188 km, nearly 9,000 fishing vessels are involved in fishing activities in Nagapattinam. The fishing harbour in the southern district is also being modernised even as prawn-rearing and moderinsation of fishing trawlers will be some of the important economic activities to be taken up in the university, she said.

With 1,076 km of coast, Tamil Nadu has 591 fishing villages and around nine lakh strong fishing community. Nearly 4 lakh tonnes of fish is caught every year from the State. The annual fish export to the tune of around Rs 2,000 crore, she said.

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