Minister V Abdurrahman: Norway Model Will Be Helpful For Comprehensive Development Of Fisheries Sector: Fisheries and Sports Minister V Abdurrahman said that the state government is starting an action plan prepared for the comprehensive development of the fisheries sector in Kerala with the Norwegian partnership, giving shape to workable ideas. As a continuation of the Chief Minister’s foreign visit, the Minister was presiding over the discussion on the formation of various action programs that can be implemented in the fisheries sector with the cooperation of Norway. Kerala has had relations with Norway for the past seven decades and has collaborated with Norway since the 1950s to develop the fisheries sector of our state.
The main task of the Kerala delegation participating in the discussion is to learn advanced technologies in the fisheries and aquaculture sector from Norwegian institutions. Norway’s advanced technologies, infrastructure, and precision are astounding. Along with diplomats, administrators, planners, and development officials, the scientific community is also included in the action program formulation team.
In the first phase of collaboration between Kerala and Norway, projects related to fisheries and aquaculture will be developed. This will benefit the young fishing community and allied sectors. There are plans to create a corpus fund to promote collaborative research and other programs between the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies and Norwegian universities. Norwegian institutions, including universities in the region, have requested the government to set up such a fund to support students.
To prepare a road map for further improvement of Kerala’s fisheries sector, Dr. Kufos will host a workshop with global experts including Eric as part of the team. A concept like Sea Food Innovation Cluster should also become a reality in Kerala soon. The Minister said that the discussion with the Norwegian team and the delegation of Kerala would be possible to form action plans for the growth of the fishing sector in collaboration with other departments such as industry, tourism, and agriculture.
In the program held at Mascot Hotel, Thiruvananthapuram, Director of Nansen Center in Norway, Tor Furevik, Research Coordinator Dr. Las Peterson. Nord University representatives Prof. Mette, Prof. Kiron, Dr. Murat, NTNU representative Dr. Mathew, Principal Secretary K.S. Srinivas, Kufos Vice Chancellor Dr. K. Riji John, Officer on Special Duty Venu Rajamani, Director of Fisheries Dr. Adeela Abdullah and representatives of fishermen organizations participated.
