KOCHI: Fisheries scientists from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) countries, who reviewed the remedial steps to be initiated to mitigate the impact of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture, recommended a Saarc-level task force to formulate strategies in this regard.
In fact, the suggestion came up at the video conference convened by Saarc Agriculture Centre(SAC) attended by representatives of all the member-states, barring Sri Lanka.
India was represented by a three-member team headed by Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) director A Gopalakrishnan, with National Innovations on Climate Resilient Aquaculture (NICRA) project coordinator P U Zacharia and senior scientist Grinson George being the other two members of the team.
The major remedial measures put forward at the Conference were introduction of saline temperature tolerant and fast-growing fish species for coastal aquaculture; establishment of fish sanctuary for improvement of natural stocks; setting up a common gene bank for vulnerable species; development of alternate energy and fuel sources for inland and marine capture fisheries; utilisation of e-commerce ventures and information communication technology (ICT) for social and livelihood security of fishers and fish farmers.
India presented the report which pertained to the issues and emerging challenges posed by climate change in the country’s coastal fisheries and aquaculture sector.