Stamp on endemic fish species released in Mangaluru

Minister for Fisheries, Ports and Inland Water Transport Kota Srinivas Poojary released a stamp and an envelope on an endemic fish species, 'Puntius Carnaticus', at College of Fisheries in Hoige Bazar in the city on Tuesday.

The stamp was issued to commemorate the golden jubilee year of the College of Fisheries, established in 1969.

The minister also laid the foundation stone for Skill Development in Fisheries and Safety Training Centre under Mangaluru Smart City Limited (MSCL). The release of the stamp is an initiative to take measures for conservation and protection of Western Ghats’ flora and fauna. There are about 300 other species of fishes in the Western Ghats and many of them are yet to be discovered.

This fish can be cultivated for consumption purposes in local communities and is known to have medicinal values. The fish also be used for ornamental purposes as they are extremely colourful and vibrant.

The College of Fisheries has initiated certain projects to study the flora and fauna of the Western Ghats, said Dean Dr A Senthil Vel.

The proposed skill development training centre is being constructed at a cost of Rs 4.9 crore under Mangaluru Smart City, he added.

The centre will be made operational within six months and it will provide training and skill development to unemployed youth of the state in different sectors of fisheries such as boat making, net making, fish processing, fish product preparations, fish marketing, management, quality control, among others, the dean added.

Kota Srinivas Poojary said Karnataka should become one of the leading states in fisheries both in aquaculture and marine fisheries.

He suggested that the skill development centre should be established at the earliest and the unemployed youth and migrant labourers should be trained to help them eke out a living at the earliest. He also indicated that under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana the State is likely to get more than Rs 3,500 crore in assistance from the Centre.

MLA Vedavyas Kamath lauded the College of Fisheries and its contributions.