CIFNET and MPEDA-NETFISH sign MoU to hold skills training for the fishing community
The Central Institute of Fisheries Nautical and Engineering Training (CIFNET) and MPEDA-NETFISH will collaborate to hold skills training programs for the fishing community in all coastal states and union territories.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed here by AK Choudhury, Director of CIFNET, and Joice V Thomas, Chief Executive of MPEDA-NETFISH.
The initiative aims to improve the welfare and socioeconomic status of the fishing community, as well as resource conservation and post-harvest quality management, by providing appropriate upskilling training programs through the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) scheme.
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Fisheries extension services play an important role in the development of the fisheries sector by providing technical assistance, public outreach, training, and education, as well as serving as a link between research findings and end-users. Fisheries management necessitates intensive education campaigns, public participation, and joint participation programs. Training fishermen in resource conservation, post-harvest handling, and other techniques necessitate the dedicated efforts of dedicated extension agencies.
Obstacles are being encountered
Marine fishing is currently facing numerous challenges such as catch reduction, species loss, willful destruction of juvenile fish, climate change-related dwindling in catches, high fuel prices, manpower shortages, natural calamities, and so on. Similarly, seafood exports face numerous challenges as a result of trade-related restrictions and requirements imposed by major importing countries. To empower the fishing community to tide over these numerous issues, a collaborative effort is required.
The training program proposes to assist fishermen by providing hands-on training program in tuna longline fishing, the use of improved gears and methods, the improvement of fishing craft energy efficiency, on-board fish preservation and handling for better value realization, conservation of fish and other marine resources, sustainable fishing, combating plastic pollution, hygiene and sanitation, sea safety and navigation, vessel monitoring systems, and so on. This will help to improve fishers’ earnings, reduce post-harvest losses, and lead to an overall improvement in the capture fisheries sector.
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MPEDA’s extension wing, NETFISH, aims to improve the quality of fishery products exported and the sustainability of fishery resources.
CIFNET conducts short and long-term training programs for fishers in coastal states and union territories to train them in a variety of allied subjects such as safety at sea, communication equipment use, onboard training in tuna longline fishing, and so on.
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