Vice President Venkaiah Naidu visits CMFRI Vizag, applauds snapper seed production

India’s Vice President, M Venkaiah Naidu, on Monday, arrived in Vizag on a week-long trip. The Vice President was received by Andhra Pradesh Tourism Minister, Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, Visakhapatnam District Collector, V Vinay Chand, and Visakhapatnam MP MVV Satyanarayana among others.

On 7 December, Mr Venkaiah Naidu visited the ICAR- Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) and Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT) in Vizag. After touring around the museum of ICAR- CIFT in Vizag, the Vice President interacted with the scientists and staff of the institutes.

Addressing the gathering, he noted that the fisheries sector constitutes 10 percent of the total exports from India. Mr Naidu added that the sector has been one of the major contributors of foreign exchange earnings. Stating that Blue Revolution and a thriving Blue Economy will lift millions of the coastal communities out of poverty, he said that a long coastline of over 8000 km should be the country’s strength but not weakness. The Vice President further called the scientists to provide financial stability to the citizens and create a net security provider in the region. Applauding the exemplary work of the CMFRI and CIFT in the area of mariculture, he noted that the production of snapper seeds in Vizag will give a great boost to mariculture. As a part of the week-long trip, a virtual global summit is scheduled on Tuesday, wherein the Vice President will grace the event as a chief guest.

It is to be noted that breeding and seed production of John’s snappers have been achieved successfully at the ICAR Central Marine Research Institute (CMFRI) lab in Vizag. Reportedly, this is the first instance of snapper seeds being produced consistently in the country.