KOCHI: Former Vice-Chancellor of Kerala Agricultural University and former Director of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) E G Silas, 90, passed away here on Friday.
He had served as the founder-director of Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA), Chennai; chairman of Marine Products Exports Development Authority; founder chairman of the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), and Officer on Special Duty for the establishment of the Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI) at Port Blair. He had also served as the chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committees of the Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE), Kochi, and Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture (RGCA) and chairman of the Research Advisory Committee of the Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE), Mumbai.
A visionary in academic and research activities, Silas’ move to start the Centre of Advanced Studies in Mariculture at the CMFRI gave a fillip to the country’s marine fisheries sector. The students who joined for PhD programmes under this programme are heading the fisheries and mariculture research bodies and the seafood industry in the country today.
Silas has published around 300 scientific papers. He was part of a number of national-level policy making and academic committees and represented India at a number of international meetings.
He is survived by his wife Saradha Silas and children Geeta Silas, Ramesh Silas and Arun Silas. The body will be kept at his home (37, Ambady Retreat, Chilavannur Road, Kochi) for the people to pay respects from 9 am to 3 pm on Monday. Memorial services will be held at 4 pm on Monday at the CSI Immanuel Cathedral, Broadway, followed by burial at the Cemetery Mukku, Chittor Road.