21st-23rd February 2025, Surat
ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, in collaboration with the Surat District Aquaculture Farmers Producer Organization Cooperative Society Limited (SAFPO), organized a 3-day Seafood Festival at Dandi Beach, Olpad Taluk, Surat, from February 21st to 23rd, 2025. The event aimed to raise public awareness and promote the increased domestic consumption of fish. Over 45 seafood outlets, showcasing and serving seafood delicacies from across the Indian coastline, were set up at the Seafood Festival venue. The event attracted around 20,000 visitors over three days, highlighting the potential for increasing domestic seafood consumption and paving the way for its popularization. The festival was partially supported by the Department of Fisheries, Govt of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, and the National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad.
Shri Mukesh Zinabhai Patel, Minister of Forest and Environment, Climate Change, Water Resources and Water Supply, Govt of Gujarat, inaugurated the seafood festival at Dandi Beach on the evening of 21st February 2024 in the presence of Dr Kuldeep K Lal, Director, ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, Shri Puneet Issar, popular Bollywood actor and Shri Pradeep Navik, President, SAFPO.
Shri Patel highlighted the new initiatives being taken by the Govt of Gujarat in the development of fish and especially shrimp culture. He highlighted the importance of fish as a health food and initiatives taken by the state and central fisheries ministries to increase the production and consumption of seafood in the country.
Dr Kuldeep K Lal briefed the role played by ICAR-CIBA in the co-organisation of this seafood festival as consumption is as important as increasing production. The ICAR-CIBA is a front institute in developing technologies for brackishwater aquaculture in the country and stressed the importance of fish species like pearl spot and milkfish, which were introduced to the public in Surat as seafood delicacies.
A seafood stall was set up by the members of the Halpati Samaj Matsya Mandal, Navsari, a self-help group supported by ICAR-CIBA under the Scheduled Tribe component. The stall featured local seafood delicacies made from farm-reared brackishwater species such as mud crab, seabass, pearlspot, milkfish, and shrimp. The fish served at the stall were raised at an integrated fish farming unit in Sultanpur Village, Navsari, using ICAR-CIBA technologies under the STC scheme. The Tribal SHG generated Rs. 1,03,100 from the sale of fish, shrimp, and crab over the three-day Seafood Festival.
The seafood festival was sponsored and financially supported by the National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad (NFDB) and Department of Fisheries, Govt of Gujarat under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) along with SAFPO, Surat, and ICAR-CIBA, Chennai.
(Source: ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, Chennai)
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