CMFRI to use satellite data for spatial mapping of marine

The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute would utilise satellite data for a spatial mapping of marine fisheries and mangrove resources in the country, its director Dr A Gopalakrishnan said here today.
"Spatial mapping of marine fisheries resources will help easily locate the fishing areas, navigational channels and protected areas distinctively in the open sea waters", he said.
He was addressing the valedictory of the Winter School organised by the CMFRI to train young researchers in using satellite remote sensing data.
He said as part of the marine fisheries management, the CMFRI has already launched a research project to analyse the productivity of sea waters utilising the satellite data.

The study is aimed at correlating the data on the presence of chlorophyll in water bodies collected physically with the data generated from the satellites, he said.
Also, CMFRI has inked a pact with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad, of the Indian Space Research Organisation, to conduct a collaborative study to assess blue carbon emissions and its sequestration, Gopalakrishnan said.

The remote sensing data would also be used be for locating suitable sites for cage fish farming in sea waters.
Gopalakrishnan said the second international symposium on Societal Applications in Fisheries and Aquaculture using Remote Sensing Imagery (SAFARI), to be held by CMFRI in Kochi from January 15 to 17, will evaluate the progress of the development of these research initiatives in detail.

The Winter School, which began on December 1, was attended by 22 participants from various research institutes, agricultural universities and colleges from across the country.