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In this Issue Days to Remember

Page No. Feb 02 World Wetlands Day

March 22 World Water Day
* Cover Story 5
March 23 World Meteorology Day
1. North and Northeast 7
April 05 National Maritime Day
2. Farmers’ Note Book 14 April 16 World Entrepreneurship Day
3. New/Innovative Technologies in Fisheries 18 April 22 International Mother Earth Day
May 02 World Tuna Day
4. NFDB Initiatives 20
May 22 International Day for Biological
5. Important Events 22 Diversity

6. NFDB Field Notes 26 May 23 World Turtle Day

May 24 World Fish Migration Day
7. Fishers & Farmers News 27
June 05 World Environment Day
8. Fisheries & Aquaculture Industry News 28 June 08 World Oceans Day
9. NFDB News 29 July First International Day of Cooperatives
Saturday
10. NFDB in the Media 30
July 10 National Fish Farmers’ Day
11. Announcements 31 NFDB Formation Day
July 11 World Population Day
Sept 16 International Day for Preservation
of Ozone Layer
Chief Editor & Publisher: Sept 18 World Water Monitoring Day
Mrs. I. Rani Kumudini, IAS Sept 26 World Hunting & Fishing Day
Chief Executive Oct First World Habitat Day
National Fisheries Development Board Monday
Hyderabad – 500 052 Oct 16 World Food Day
Nov 21 World Fisheries Day
Associate Editor: Dec 03 World Conservation Day
Dr. K. Ravindranath, Sr. Consultant (Tech) Dec 05 World Soil Day
Dec 14 World Energy Day
[Mail to: matsyabharat@gmail.com] Seasonal Fishing Ban/ Closed Season (60 days)
East Coast of India 15 April to 14 June
West Coast of India 01 June to 31 July

Volume 9, Issue 1 April - June 2017

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CONTENTS
Sl. Item Page
No. No.

* Cover Story: ‘The Ocean Conference’ – Countries agree on decisive and urgent actions to restore 5
Marine World to health

1.1 Projects Implementation in North Eastern States – First Zonal Review Meeting held at Guwahati, Assam 7

1.2 Stakeholders consultation for ‘National Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy’ held at Guwahati, Assam 7

1.3 Upcoming Integrated Ornamental Fish Unit at Patarkuchi, Kamrup district, Assam, inspected 8

1.4 NFDB funded Hygienic Fish Markets in different districts of Assam inspected for progress of work 8

1.5 Project Monitoring Committee Reviews NFDB funded ‘Community Fish Seed Bank Project’
in Bongaigaon, Assam 10

1.6 NFDB funded training programme on ‘Aquatic Animal Health Management in Aquaculture’ conducted
at College of Fisheries, Raha, Assam 11

1.7 All India Radio Guwahati, Assam facilitates popularizing ‘Central Sector Schemes under Blue Revolution’
in the North East States 12

1.8 NFDB funded Ornamental Fish Units in Assam inspected 12

1.9 NFDB sponsored programmes under ‘Swachhta Pakhwada - 2017’ conducted at various locations
in the State of Assam 12

2.1 Giant River-catfish – native to the Indian Subcontinent and in great demand as food fish 14

3.1 ‘Square Mesh Panels’ on Trawl Nets Reduce By-catch and Conserve Marine Demersal Fishery Resources 18

4.1 First meeting of the Technical Management and Advisory Committee on NFDB-NFFBB held at
Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi 20

4.2 National Consultation Meet on ‘Mariculture and Open Sea Cage Culture Development in India’ held at
CMFRI, Mandapam, Tamil Nadu 21

5.1 The United Nations Celebrates first ever ‘World Tuna Day’ on 2 May 2017 22

5.2 ‘World Environment Day’ observed on 5 June 2017 22

5.3 ‘Kisan Kalyan Mela’ organized on the occasion of ‘Champaran Satyagraha’ centenary at Motihari, Bihar 24

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Sl. Item Page

No. No.

5.4 International Symposium and School on Aquatic Animal Epidemiology organized under NFDB funded
NSPAAD Project at NBFGRI, Lucknow, Utttar Pradesh 24

5.5 NFDB Participates in ‘Aqua Aquaria India 2017’ at Mangalore, Karnataka 25

6.1 Activities at National Freshwater Fish Brood Bank (NFDB-NFFBB), Bhubaneswar, Odisha 26

7.1 Fishermen of Sourashtra Region, Gujarat, undergo training in adoption of ‘Square Mesh Codend for
Trawl Nets’ 27

8.1 Progressive farmer of Haryana adopts Recirculation Aquaculture System to boost fish production –
A Success Story 28

9.1 Mrs. I. Rani Kumudini, IAS, takes over as Chief Executive of NFDB 29

9.2 NFDB Staff – Repatriation, Additional Charge and Transfers 29

9.3 Karnataka Farmers on an Exposure Visit to Andhra Pradesh visit NFDB 30

9.4 ‘International Yoga Day’ observed at NFDB, Hyderabad 30

10.0 NFDB in the Media 30

11.0 Announcements (11.1 to 11.5): International Conferences/Meets/Symposia 31

***

Volume 9, Issue 1 April - June 2017


Cover Story
‘The Ocean Conference’ – Countries agree
on decisive and urgent actions to restore
Marine World to health
Excerpts
The Ocean Conference, first of its kind, convened by the
United Nations and co-hosted by Fiji and Sweden, was held
during 5-9 June 2017 at New York, USA, coinciding with
World Oceans Day on 8th June 2017. The United Nations
Secretary-General Mr. António Guterres told the opening
session of the Ocean Conference that the problems of the
ocean—all created by human activity, can all be reversed
and prevented with decisive, coordinated action. “Oceans
are a testing ground for the principle of multilateralism,”
he said. “The health of our oceans and seas requires us to
put aside short-term national gain, to avoid long-term global
catastrophe.” “Conserving our oceans and using them
sustainably is preserving life itself,” he added.
The Ocean Conference focused attention on ocean
pollution, overfishing and climate impacts with a Call for
Action to implement Sustainable Development Goal 14
(SDG-14): to conserve and sustainably use the world’s
oceans, seas and marine resources. The SDG-14 is one of
the 17 Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development, an ambitious framework to Transform Our
World.
Inaugural Session of the Ocean Conference on 5 June 2017
at the United Nations Headquarters, New York, USA [Cour-
tesy of the UN, Source: https://oceanconference.un.org/]
Volume 9, Issue 1
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The President of the UN General Assembly Mr. Peter
Thomson said that “The Ocean Conference has changed
our relationship with the ocean”. “Henceforth none can
say they were not aware of the harm humanity has done to
the ocean’s health. We are now working around the world
to restore a relationship of balance and respect towards the
ocean,” he said.
Mr. Peter Thomson, President of Gen Assembly of UN,
addressing delegates at the Ocean Conference, UN, New
York, USA [Courtesy of the UN, Source: https://
oceanconference.un.org/]
Mr. Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic
and Social Affairs and Secretary-General of the Ocean
Conference, said the Conference marked a major step
forward for the implementation of the Sustainable
Development Goals. “Participants from member States,
NGOs, civil society, the private sector, the scientific
community and academia engaged in wide-ranging
discussion and shared state-of-the-art knowledge and latest
information on marine science and challenges,” he said.
“They showcased and put forward many innovative
solutions, which can help us achieve Sustainable
Development Goal 14, and through its interlinkages the
other SDGs and targets.”
At the conclusion of the five-day Ocean Conference on 9th
June, the 193 Member States of the United Nations
unanimously agreed to a set of measures that will begin
the reversal of the decline of the ocean’s health. The
outcome document, together with more than 1,300
commitments to action, marks a breakthrough in the global
approach to the management and conservation of the ocean.
April - June 2017

Left: Logo of the United Nations Ocean Conference held during 5-9 June 2017 at New York, USA. Right: Logo of the 17
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framed by the United Nations. [Courtesy of the UN, Source: https://
oceanconference.un.org/]
Conference Outcomes
Recognizing that the wellbeing of present and future
generations is inextricably linked to the health and
productivity of the ocean, countries collectively agreed in
the Call to Action “to act decisively and urgently, convinced
that our collective action will make a meaningful difference
to our people, to our planet and to our prosperity.”
While the ocean partnership dialogues focused on the
multiple problems and challenges the ocean is facing, all
participants offered solutions and commitments to reverse
these challenges.
The Call for Action was formally adopted at the conclusion
of the Conference, as well as the reports from the seven
partnership dialogues that have focused on scaling up
solutions, and the voluntary commitments to action.
In the Call for Action, countries agree to implement long-
term and robust strategies to reduce the use of plastics and
microplastics, such as plastic bags and single use plastics.
FAO Headquarters (hosts the Fisheries & Aquaculture
Department) in Rome, Italy, lights up blue to mark the
World Oceans Day on 8 June 2017 with the theme “Our
Oceans, Our Future” [Courtesy of the UN, Source:
http:// www.fao.org/blogs/blue-growth-blog/ lighting-fao-
blue-to-mark-world-oceans-day/en/]
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Countries also agreed to develop and implement effective
adaptation and mitigation measures that address ocean and
coastal acidification, sea-level rise and increase in ocean
temperatures, and to target the other harmful impacts of
climate change on the ocean. The Call recognizes the
importance of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
The Call for Action also includes measures to protect
coastal and blue carbon ecosystems, such as mangroves,
tidal marshes, seagrass and coral reefs, and wider
interconnected ecosystems, as well as enhancing
sustainable fisheries management, including restoring fish
stocks in the shortest time feasible at least to levels that
can produce maximum sustainable yield (MSY). Countries
are called upon to decisively prohibit certain forms of
fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and
overfishing, and eliminate subsidies that contribute to
illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Dais during Plenary Session at the Ocean Conference, UN,
New York, USA [Courtesy of the UN, Source: https://
oceanconference.un.org/]
The commitments, in turn, address all the issues needed to
achieve Sustainable Development Goal 14 — Conserve and
sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources —
and produced significant results:
April - June 2017

• Commitments made at the Conference indicate that
the world is well on track to protect over 10 per cent
of the globe’s marine areas by 2020. The
commitments made during the conference add 4.4 per
cent of marine areas to the existing number.
• Many countries announced steps to reduce or
eliminate various single use plastics, such as plastic
shopping bags, which ultimately find their way to
the ocean.
• Numerous countries announced that they were
stepping up their efforts to reduce the amount of
sewage and pollution entering the ocean from land-
based activities.
• Many commitments focused on expanding scientific
knowledge about the ocean and developing and
sharing innovative technologies to address ocean
challenges.
1. North and Northeast
1.1 Projects Implementation in North Eastern States Thirty five officials including Directors and representative
– First Zonal Review Meeting held at Guwahati, from Directorates of Fisheries of North Eastern States
Assam participated in the review meeting and discussed about the
The Zonal Review Meeting on ‘Implementation of Projects
under Blue Revolution in North Eastern States’ was held
on 15 June 2017 at the Northeast Regional Centre of NFDB,
in the campus of NIRD&PR, Guwahati, Assam, under the
Chairmanship of Shri Aditya Kumar Joshi, Joint Secretary
(Fisheries), Dept. of Animal Husbandry, Dairying &
Fisheries (DADF), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers
Welfare, Govt. of India, & Chief Executive, NFDB,
Hyderabad
First Zonal Meeting to review implementation of fisheries
projects in North Eastern States held on 15 June 2017 at
NFDB-NERC, Guwahati, Assam
Volume 9, Issue 1
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• There were new commitments to protect and manage
fisheries. Some countries announced “no-take zones”
for certain fishing.
• Commitments were made to establish systems that
allow consumers to source sustainable fish.
• New commitments were also made to combat illegal,
unreported and unregulated fishing, and to curtail
fishing subsidies that are working to deplete fish
stocks.
[Source: The United Nations Ocean Conference; https://
oceanconference.un.org/]
[Photos on Cover Page: Red Lion-Fish Pterois volitans
(above left); Bubble-tip Sea Anemone Entacmaea
quadricolor, with the symbiotic Pink Anemone Fish also
known as Pink Skunk Clownfish Amphiprion perideraion
(above right); and Coral (Pocillopora sp.) Bleaching caused
by Ocean Warming (below)]
status of Schemes under Blue Revolution in North Eastern
States. Dr. B.K. Chand, Executive Director (Tech), Shri
Chandan Chetri, Sr. Executive (Technical), NFDB,
Hyderabad, and Shri S.K. Rath, Assistant Commissioner
(Fisheries), DADF, GoI, also took part. Directors and other
officials were asked to expedite the utilization of funds
released under Blue Revolution for the year 2016-17. They
were also informed that proposals for the year 2017-18
under Blue Revolution Scheme along with Detailed Project
Report (DPR) are to be sent at the earliest to NFDB,
Hyderabad, to furnish immediately the pending UC’s of
NFDB funded schemes for further release of fund under
‘Blue Revolution’.
1.2 Stakeholders consultation for ‘National Inland
Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy’ held at Guwahati,
Assam
A Stakeholders Consultation for formulation of draft
‘National Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy’
(NIFAP), was held on 16 June 2017 at the Northeast
Regional Centre of NFDB, in the campus of NIRD&PR,
Guwahati, Assam. More than 75 stakeholders and experts
participated in the consultation workshop.
April - June 2017

The inaugural session was chaired by Shri Aditya Kumar
Joshi, JS (Fy) DADF & Chief Executive, NFDB,
Hyderabad. Dr. Dilip Kumar, Ex-Director & Former Vice-
Chancellor, ICAR-CIFE, Mumbai, the Chairman of the
committee for formulation of the Policy; Shri Manash
Choudhury, Deputy Advisor (Fisheries), NITI Aayog, Govt.
of India; Dr. Gopal Krishna, Director & Vice Chancellor,
ICAR-CIFE, Mumbai; Dr. B.K. Das, Director, CIFRI,
Kolkata; Dr. B.C. Jha, Retd. Principal Scientist, CIFRI, Dr.
B.K. Btattacharjya, Principal Scientist & Head, CIFRI,
NERC, Guwahati; besides other scientists from ICAR
Institutes: CIFE, CIFRI, CIFA; officials from Department
of Fisheries of the North Eastern States; NFDB, Hyderabad,
Shri S.K. Rath, Assistant Commissioner (Fisheries),
DAHDF, GoI, Dr. B.K. Chand, Executive Director (Tech),
Shri Chandan Chetri and Shri Apurba Kumar Das, Sr.
Executives (Tech), NFDB; stakeholders such as farmers
from different parts of Assam, fishers of wetlands,
representatives of different NGO’s working in Assam also
participated in the workshop.
Stakeholders Consultation on NIFAP, held on 16 June 2017
at Guwahati, Assam: release of document ‘Roadmap for
Fisheries’ (above); discussions by the ‘Pengba’ group
(below left) and the ‘Pabda’ group (below right)
During the technical sessions, two groups – one, the
“Pengba” (Catfish Osteobrama belangeri), focusing on
culture fisheries and the other, the “Pabda” (Catfish Ompok
pabda), focusing on capture fisheries and open water bodies
– were formed among the participants. Suggestions/
recommendations made were discussed and deliberated.
Volume 9, Issue 1
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Dr. Dilip Kumar, Chairman of the Drafting Committee,
informed that the final meeting of ‘National Inland Fisheries
and Aquaculture Policy’ would be held in Mumbai and that
the points put forth during the Guwahati Workshop would
be incorporated.
1.3 Upcoming Integrated Ornamental Fish Unit at
Patarkuchi, Kamrup district, Assam, inspected
NFDB sanctioned an amount of Rs. 6.81 lakh and released
Rs.3.40 lakh for the establishment of an Integrated
Ornamental Fish Unit at Patarkuchi, Sonapur, Kamrup
district, Assam. On 7 April 2017 Dr. B. Lahon, Sr.
Consultant (Fisheries) and Shri Sangipran Baishya, Jr.
Consultant (Fisheries), NFDB Regional Centre, Guwahati,
visited the project site located about 30 km from Guwahati.
Shri Prasanta Bharali, the beneficiary and owner of
Rudraksha Health Resort & Spa, in the premises of which
the unit is being established, accompanied. It was observed
that about 50-60% of the construction work is completed
and the remaining works are under progress.
NFDB funded Integrated Ornamental Fish Unit under
construction at Patarkuchi, Sonapur, Kamrup district,
Assam; the beneficiary Shri Prasanta Bharali (middle)
flanked by NFDB Officials (above)
1.4 NFDB funded Hygienic Fish Markets in
different districts of Assam inspected for progress
of work
NFDB sanctioned Rs. 952.93 lakh and released Rs 707.57
lakh for construction of seven Modern Hygienic Wholesale-
cum-Retail Fish Markets in different districts of Assam.
April - June 2017