Ludhiana, November 22
A variety of activities from an educating corner to moth watering fish and shrimp value added products, fish/shrimp recipe competition, live fish display and stocking of fish fingerlings added festivity to World Fisheries Day (WFD) celebrations at College of Fisheries (COF) of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana. The 2nd day celebration kicked off with stocking of fish fingerlings in a fish pond at the Instructional cum Research Farm of COF by the Chief Guest, Dr. Jatinder Paul Singh Gill, Vice Chancellor in the presence of the officers of the university and former Dean of COF, Dr. Asha Dhawan.
Medical students from Government Senior Secondary Smart School – PAU, BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Police DAV Public School and Shifaly International School of Ludhiana visited COF for the educational treat showcasing the aquatic resources/diversity and its role in food, nutritional and livelihood security at global, national and regional levels. They were overwhelmed to learn the amazing aquatic world and prospective academic programs in fisheries science after completing 10+2 with medical subjects.
Fifty-five (55) entries from COF competed for the poster making competition on the theme “Conserve Aquatic Resources – Save Life”, while ten (10) entries from vet varsity, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and Punjab Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute (PAMETI), Ludhiana competed in the recipe competition adjudged by a panel of judges. Winners were awarded with certificates, souvenirs and cash price for their creative ideas in poster making and mouthwatering innovative delicacies in recipe competition.
The stalls of value-added fish and shell fish products, prepared by undergraduate and PG students of COF and promising entrepreneurs trained by COF, remained packed with visitors throughout the event, who relished assorted products like fish soup, fish kabab, shrimp popcorns, Fish Fingers, fish/shrimp pickles, fish samosa and fish fry.
Overall, the celebrations highlighted importance of sustainable fisheries and advocated conservation of aquatic ecosystems. It also promoted consumption of fish and fishery products, showing solidarity to the ‘Fishermen’, who catch fish from natural resources and the ‘Fish Farmers’, who produce fish from in different culture systems, aligning to national WFD-2025 theme “India’s Blue Transformation: Strengthening Value Addition in Seafood Exports”.
