Tuticorin Regional Station of CMFRI
Marine pearl tissue culture laboratory
Marine algae stock culture laboratory
Searanching of hatchery produced pearl oysters spat
Harvesting of cultured seabass for the first time from Tirunelveli
Marine Museum
The ICAR-Tuticorin Regional Station of CMFRI is one of the major regional stations of ICAR-CMFRI which was started as a survey centre, in 1948, upgraded as a research unit in 1959, elevated to the status of a sub-station in 1969, subsequently to a research centre in 1975, and renamed a Regional Station in 2021/22. This station has made several unique and valuable research contributions during the last seven decades, winning national and international recognition. The Tuticorin Regional Station of CMFRI dedicates several crucial research areas to the sustainable management and development of marine resources in the Gulf of Mannar region. The research thrust includes inventorying, stock assessment, and monitoring of marine fisheries resources and the environment, particularly focusing on the Gulf of Mannar. Moreover, the station conducts significant research on the breeding and seed production of both commercial and endangered molluscs and the sea ranching of pearl oysters. Additionally, the station specializes in live feed culture for finfish and shellfish larval rearing, as well as assessing fisheries economics and marketing strategies. The station also plays a pivotal role in training and manpower development in various areas such as fish stock assessment, environmental monitoring, and seaweed farming cage farming of finfish and shellfish.
- Thrust Areas of Research
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Major Achievements
- Database on species composition of finfish and shellfish exploited along the Gulf of Mannar and Wadge bank ecosystem
- Database on biological parameters including length, weight, feeding, reproductive attributes and stock status of commercially important 20 finfish and 15 shellfish species of the Gulf of Mannar
- Input data supplied for the implementation Minimum Legal size (MLS) along the Tamil Nadu coast to the Department of Fisheries Government of Tamil Nadu
- Inputs are given for framing the policy document “Management Plans for the Marine Fisheries of Tamil Nadu – 2019”
- Stock status of the commercially important species (Finfish -5 Shellfish -2) exploited along the Gulf of Mannar for the estimation of “Marine fish stock status of India, 2022”.
- Inputs given for the report preparation of the Expert Committee on Purse Seine Fishing along the Indian waters
- Input data supplied for the Setting up of a Joint Marine Fisheries Resource Management Authority between Govts. of Sri Lanka and India for Palk Bay & Gulf of Mannar
- Decision support system developed for small striped cuttlefish, Sepia prabahari based on reproductive attributes for implementation of Minimum Legal size (MLS)
- Validated the age of Sepiateuthis lessoniana using statolith under captive-reared conditions.
- Estimated the exploitation level of clam population along different ecosystems of south Tamilnadu
- Successfully sea ranched 5 lakhs hatchery-produced pearl oyster, Pinctada fucata, in the Gulf of Mannar region
- Waste valorization of low-nutritional profile agricultural by-products for the development of nutrient-rich feed ingredients for marine fish species
- Grow-out feed for snubnose pompano was commercialized under the name Cadalmin™-Silvergrow. The MoU was signed between ICAR-CMFRI, Kochi, and IB Group, Chhattisgarh, for the commercialization of the snubnose pompano diet.
- Nutritional requirements of marine food fish, snubnose pompano, Trachinotus blochii and Cobia, Rachycentron canadum were studied in the indigenous recirculatory aquaculture systems.
- Fishmeal replacement using various feed ingredients was studied in marine food and ornamental fish species for sustainable and cost effective feed development.
- Cost-effective commercial feed development was carried out for snubnose pompano and cobia fish.
- Nutrigenomic research for the development of better growth performing feed for mariculture fish species
- Prolonged maintenance of marine microalgal stock culture (Nannochloropsis And Isochrysis galbana) was successfully done.
- Stock culture is being maintained for 15 species for marine microalgal species used for in marine finfish and shellfish hatchery operations.
- Developed decision support tool for conservation of non-edible biota along the trawl fishing grounds off the Gulf of Mannar.
- Developed methodology for assessment of non-edible plant biota and its ecological implications in trawl fishery off Thoothukudi coast.
- Developed methodology for assessment of ichthyofaunal diversity and trophic level status of trawl by-catch off Southeast coast of India.
- Concept developed to evaluate cryptic differentiation of Conus litteratus (Gastropoda: Conidae) in the Indo-Pacific Region as influenced by Sunda shelf biogeographic barrier
- Developed methodology for mitochondrial marker-based analysis for molluscan speciation from coral reef ecosystem
- Developed methodology for studying morphology and reproduction of Hydrozoa from Tuticorin Bay of Gulf of Mannar.
- Development of ArcGIS Web Application- An interactive seaweed farming site along Indian coast
- Concept developed for studying the wetland information - Web Application and app to generate information on Wetlands
- Described new species of cone snail, Conus laccadivensis nov.: (Gastropoda: Conidae) from the Islands of Lakshadweep Archipelago
- Assessed of marine mammal stock and by-catch and sea turtle by-catch for their protection from the coastal waters of India
- Underwater survey along the Kayalpattinam area, off Tuticorin and revealed 18 new sponge species.
- Standardized the stocking density of Asian seabass, Lates calcariferin shallow water sea cages.
- Assessed the growth performance of candidate species in Tide-fed pond in the polyculture system of Tuticorin inshore waters showed better growth performance in blochii in the initial months compared to sea bass.
- Evaluated the performance of an indigenous automatic feeding device (AI) of 25 kg capacity for sea cage farming.
- First successful documentation of sea cage grow-out farming trail culture of marine fishes in HDPE cages of Asian Seabass at selected sites of Tirunelveli coastal district. A total of 313kg was harvested (1.2 kg avg wt / fish) in 283 DOC.
- Optimized the stocking density (12nos/m3) of sea bass fingerlings in sea-cage (HDPE) in Tuticorin inshore waters.
- Estimated the marine litter, micorofibre contamination on the seafloor, beaches and in the inshore water of Tuticorin coast.
- Assessed the impact of the effluents discharge from industries, municipal sewage and fishing activities on the coastal water quality and on the biota of Tuticorin.
- Ascertained the impact of various mariculture activities like seaweed and finfish culture systems on the pearl oyster spat rearing indicated favourable salinity, high dissolved oxygen, and high productivity at the seaweed culture sites influencing the better growth and survival of pearl oyster spat.
- Documented the distribution of Noctiluca scintillansand its impact on the ecosystem during the bloom reported during 2022 and 2023. Which indicated a reduction in dissolved oxygen content and an increase in chlorophyll, Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen (DIN), phosphate (DIP) and Silicate concentrations in proportionate with increasing algae density at bloom areas during 2022, whereas during 2023, maximum impact was noticed in the level of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in the offshore waters of Pattinamarudhur.
- Evaluated the filtering efficiency of mangrove plants in tide fed ponds of varying area and density of mangrove vegetation in a model aqua-silviculture system at Tuticorin indicated a reduction in Total Suspended Solids and BOD levels in both ponds than the control station.
- Ascertained the environmental conditions of the clam beds at two ecosystem of Tuticorin showed that fine sand bottom with high organic carbon content supports the high diversity and less density population at Tuticorin Bay than the coarse sand with hyposaline water at Pazhayakayal estuary.
- Evaluated the Spatio-temporal profile of extreme weather events happened at the Tuticorin and three neighbouring districts indicated the dominance of heavy rain and associated floods in the area followed by cyclones
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Technology or Concepts Developed
- Seed production and cultured pearl farming techniques of pearl oysters, Pinctada fuctata and P. margaritifera.
- Seed production and farming techniques of the edible oyster, Crassostrea madrasensis
- Seed production and farming techniques of clams, Anadara granosa, Meretrix meretrix, M. casta, Paphia malabarica, and Marcia opima.
- Technology for seed production of sea cucumbers, Holothuria scabra, and H. spinifera
- Breeding and rearing of cephalopods, i.e., Sepiella inermis
- Breeding and rearing of mud crabs, i.e., Scylla serrata
- Breeding and seed production of conservation-important gastropods
- Documentation of rare, endangered, and vulnerable species from the Gulf of Mannar
- Breeding and biomass production in upside-down jellyfish (Cassiopea xamachana)
- Cage farming of fish and shellfish
- Seaweed farming technique was developed and popularized in this locality.
- Integrated Multitropic Aquaculture (IMTA) and Integrated Mangrove Fishery Farming System (IMFFS)
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Ongoing Research Projects
- Nutrition and nutri-genomics research in mariculture and marine fisheries
- Impact of coastal marine pollution on the ecosystem’s health, biodiversity and mitigation measures
- Seed production, genetic improvement and environmental suitability of seaweed farming along the Indian coast.
- Understanding the Essential Fish Habitats (EFHs) for sustainable management of coastal and marine ecosystem.
- Environmental Sustainability through Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA): A participatory approach for the socio-economic upliftment of coastal fishers of Thoothukudi District, Tamil Nadu.
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Scientific Staff
No Name Designation 1 Dr. Loveson Edward L Senior Scientist & SIC 2 Dr. L. Ranjith Senior Scientist 3 Dr. D. Linga Prabu Scientist 4 Smt. M. Kavitha Scientist 5 Smt. Vidhya V. Scientist 6 Dr. Vinothkumar R. Scientist
