The Kochi-based Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), which has a research centre here, is celebrating its diamond jubilee on Saturday, Principal Scientist U Sreedhar said.

In a press release issued on the occasion, he said it is the only institute in the country which undertakes research into all disciplines related to fisheries. It has played a vital role in the development of the fisheries sector in the state and the country and it has also helped the seafood industry. Visakhapatnam has emerged as one of the major seafood processing and exporting centres in the country.

The CIFT started functioning from Cochin (now Kochi) on April 29, 1957, and later three more research centres were set up in Mumbai, Veraval (Gujarat) and Visakhapatnam.

In fact, in the united Andhra Pradesh the CIFT research centre was set up first in Kakinada in the sixties and later shifted to Visakhapatnam in the nineties.

Sreedhar said the CIFT had been developing fishing craft, gear and methods for optimum utilisation of fisheries resources in the country, with focus on sustainability and resource conservation.

“The institute has standardised netting, netting yarn and netting twine. Fishing gear has been developed for traditional, motorised and small-scale mechanised segments of the sector.

The CIFT has also developed over the years juvenile and trash excluder devices and turtle excluder devices etc to help conserve resources.

At present, the CIFT is working on a solar boat, which is in the trial stage, and a green combination fishing vessel (Sagar Haritha).

On the occasion of the diamond jubilee, a meeting will be arranged with all the stakeholders and there will also be an open house on Saturday and the public can see the labs and the facilities in the CIFT centre here.

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