ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, through its Navsari Gujarat research centre (NGRC) partnered with Surat District Aquaculture Farmers Producer Organization Cooperative Society Limited (SAFPO) conducted a three-day Sea food festival at Dandi Beach, Olpad Taluk, Surat from 21st to 23rd February, 2025 to create awareness among the public towards increasing the domestic consumption of fish. More than 45 seafood outlets that displayed and served seafood delicacies from all around the Indian coastline were set up in the seafood festival venue. Around 20000 people visited the sea food festival in the three days and is an eyeopener on the potential of domestic consumption and give a way to popularisation. The seafood festival was partly supported by the Department of Fisheries, Government of Gujarat, Gandhinagar and National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad.
Shri. Mukesh Zinabhai Patel, Honourable 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, 2025 in the presence of Dr. Kuldeep K Lal, Director, ICAR-CIBA, Sh. Puneet Issar, fa popular bollywood actor and Shri. Pradeep Navik, President, SAFPO.
The honourable minister, Shri. Mukesh Zinabhai Patel, highlighted the new initiatives being taken by Government 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 on 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 pearlspot and milkfish, which were introduced to the public in Surat as seafood delicacies.
A seafood stall was setup by members of Halpati Samaj Matsya Mandal, Navsari a self-help group supported by ICAR-CIBA under the scheduled tribe component for sale of local seafood delicacies made using farm reared candidate brackishwater species like mud crab, seabass, pearlspot, milkfish and shrimp. The fish served in the SHG stall were raised at an integrated fish farming unit at Sultanpur Village, Navsari making use of ICAR-CIBA technologies under the STC scheme. The Tribal SHG generated Rs.1,03,100 from the sale of fish, shrimp and crab in the seafood festival, during 3 days.
The seafood festival was sponsored and financially supported by 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.
