ICAR workshop on gear-marking for fisheries sector

ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), Visakhapatnam Research Centre on Tuesday conducted a workshop on “Gear Marking in Indian Fisheries: Opportunities and Challenges.”

The workshop was funded by National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB),, Hyderabad. For the first time in the country a workshop on an emerging subject was conducted.

The workshop was held in line with the recommendations of the 1st Technical Committee Meeting on the Zero Draft of the National Guidelines on Gear Marking by the Department of Fisheries, Government of India to gather multi-stakeholder inputs on practical, socio-economic, and technical aspects of

gear marking. This workshop aimed to bring together fisheries managers, scientists, policymakers, and stakeholders to discuss the possibilities, benefits, and challenges of implementing effective gear marking systems in India.

Dr. B Madhusudana Rao, Scientist-in Charge, ICAR--CIFT highlighted the relevance of the workshop in the context of increasing marine pollution

and the need for initiating strategies such as gear traceability to control illegal fishing.

State Joint Director of Fisheries Laksman Rao said that it is the need of the hour to protect marine environment and the workshop will help create enhanced awareness on the role of gear marking, identification of challenges and practical solutions. He urged fishermen and stakeholders to share their inputs for

developing national guidelines in Gear Marking.

Dr. R. Raghu Prakash, Principal Scientist, ICAR-CIFT gave a talk on global & national perspectives on gear markingand enumerated the role of gear marking as a tool to improve traceability, reduce illegal fishing, and minimize conflicts over gear ownership and gave an insight into different gear marking technologies used globally from simple color coding to advanced radio frequency tags and acoustic devices for gear marking.