India’s first open-sea fish farm launched in Andamans
Union minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday launched the country’s first-ever open-sea marine fish farming project in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Singh travelled by boat for nearly an hour from here to reach North Bay and inaugurated the project around 10.30 am. A senior official of the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) said seabass and cobia are being reared in open-sea cages, along with experimental seaweed cultivation.
Seabass and cobia are both highly valued, firm, white-fleshed fish prized for their rich flavour. The minister described the project as one of the first major steps to boost India’s blue economy. The project is being implemented through collaboration between the Ministry of Earth Sciences, NIOT and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration.
The pilot initiative focuses on open-sea cultivation of marine finfish and seaweed in natural ocean conditions, integrating scientific innovation with livelihood generation. Speaking on the occasion, Singh said India’s oceans, much like its Himalayan and mainland resources, possess immense and diverse economic potential that has not received due attention for decades. The minister stated that for nearly 70 years after Independence, ocean resources remained largely underexplored.
He underlined that since 2014, there has been a fundamental shift in national thinking, recognising that India’s maritime domain holds equal wealth and opportunity for economic growth. Around 11 am, Singh, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, and Minister of State for the PMO, visited Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Island, formerly known as Ross Island, which is about a 20–30-minute boat journey from Sri Vijaya Puram.
Ross Island, once the administrative base of the British penal colony, was renamed Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Island by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 30, 2018, as a tribute to the freedom fighter. During his one-and-a-half-hour visit, Singh toured several historical sites, including the Japanese Bunker built during World War II and the Smritika Museum, established by the Indian Navy in 1993.
He also visited heritage structures such as the Farzand Ali Market, Power House, Bakery, Secretariat, Subordinate Club, Church, Chief Commissioner’s Bungalow, Troops Barrack and the Gun Point area on the island. A senior official of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation Limited (ANIIDCO) briefed him about the proposed development of a national memorial at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Island.
