The Department of Fisheries Environment was established at Fisheries College and Research Institute, Thoothukudi by Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) in 1977. The department was established with the aim of offering professional education on the aquatic environment, conducting pollution monitoring studies and extending fisheries knowledge to the farming and fishing communities. The major thrust areas of research focuses on pollution monitoring studies in Gulf of Mannar, bioremediation of effluents from aquaculture systems, seafood processing plants, development of soil probiotics in fish/shrimp culture systems, screening and monitoring of occurrence of harmful algal blooms and stranding of mammals in Gulf of Mannar, hydrobiology and biodiversity of inland and coastal waters of Tamil Nadu. Current research programmes in the department are in the fields of utilization of fish waste and drifted seaweeds as fertilizer for Agriculture, water quality management aspects in Penaeus vannamei culture systems and monitoring of pesticide residues in Thamirabharani river belts.
This department offers 7 UG, 12 PG and 10 Ph.D. courses and till date 51 PG students have graduated. The department has successfully developed 3 technologies viz., cost effective white worm (Enchytraeus albidus) production as live food for ornamental fish, vermi composting of seafood processing plant sludge, rapid composting of sea food waste using sugarcane bagasse and transferred to the farming community by conducting several training programmes. Since January 2017, this department has been renamed as Department of Aquatic Environment Management as per the ICAR nomenclature. The department has various lab facilities like UG laboratory, PG laboratory, Algal culture Unit, Environmental Microbiology laboratory and fish compost yard.
The department periodically receives samples from farmers of various districts of the state to understand the prospects of establishing a farm or learn problems in water quality and at times due to sudden mass mortality of cultured fishes/shrimps. The department provides advisory services to the fish, shrimp and ornamental farmers and entrepreneurs, related to soil and water management. The State Fisheries Department also approaches this department with local problems related to mass fish kills in public water bodies.
Sl.No | Course No | Course Title | Credit Load |
---|---|---|---|
1 | FS-104 | Meteorology, Climatology and Disaster Management | 3 (2+1) |
2 | FS-105 | Soil and Water Chemistry | 3 (2+1) |
3 | FS-115 | Limnology | 3 (2+1) |
4 | FS-116 | Marine Biology | 3 (2+1) |
5 | FS-205 | Aquatic Ecology and Biodiversity | 3 (2+1) |
6 | FS-215 | Fishery Oceanography | 2 (1+1) |
7 | FS-216 | Aquatic Pollution and Coastal Zone Management | 3 (2+1) |
Total | 20 (13+7) |
Sl.No | Course No | Course Title | Credit Hours |
---|---|---|---|
1 | AEM 501 | Aquatic Environment and Biodiversity | 2+1 |
2 | AEM 502 | Ecology and Management of Limnetic Environment | 2+1 |
3 | AEM 503 | Planktonology | 2+1 |
4 | AEM 504 | Aquatic Microbial Ecology | 2+1 |
5 | AEM 505 | Fisheries Oceanography | 1+1 |
6 | AEM 506 | Integrated Coastal Zone Management | 2+1 |
7 | AEM 507 | Aquatic Pollution and Waste Water Management | 2+1 |
8 | AEM 508 | Analytical Techniques in Environmental Sciences | 1+1 |
9 | AEM 509 | Chemical Interactions in the Aquatic Environment | 2+1 |
10 | AEM 510 | Environmental Toxicology | 1+1 |
11 | AEM 511 | Environmental Biotechnology | 1+1 |
12 | PGS 504 | Basic concepts in Laboratory Techniques | 1+1 |
Sl.No | Course No | Course Title | Credit Hours |
---|---|---|---|
1 | AEM 601 | Advances in Aquatic Environmental Studies | 2+1 |
2 | AEM 602 | Biotechnology for Cleaner Environment | 2+1 |
3 | AEM 603 | Benthic Ecology | 1+1 |
4 | AEM 604 | Estuarine and Coastal Dynamics | 2+1 |
5 | AEM 605 | Organic Production and Plant Pigments | 2+1 |
6 | AEM 606 | Environment Impact Assessment | 1+1 |
7 | AEM 607 | Management and Utilization of Waste Water | 2+1 |
8 | AEM 608 | Restoration Ecology | 1+1 |
9 | AEM 609 | Dispersal and Fate of Pollutants in the Ocean | 1+1 |
Total | 23(14+9) | ||
10 | PGS 604 | Basic Concepts in Laboratory Techniques | 0+1 |
Ongoing Research Projects
Completed Research Projects: 7 nos.
Sl.No | Title of the Project | Year | PI & Co-PI of the Project | Funds (in Rs.) | Funding Agency |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Impact of Anthropogenic activities and seasonal variation in plankton biomass in Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve (Sc. No. 14-103-02) | 2014-17 | PI Dr.A.Srinivasan Co-PI Dr.P.Padmavathy Dr.S.Aanand |
10.50 Lakhs | GOMBRT, Ramanathapuram |
2 | Popularization of cost effective fish compost in Thoothukudi district of Tamilnadu. (Sc. No. 14-103-03) | 2014-16 | PI Dr.P.Padmavathy Associate Professor Co-PI Dr.A.Srinivasan Chair, SFREM Dr. S. Aanand Assistant Professor |
11.10 Lakhs | Part II Scheme State Fisheries |
3 | Impact of Large Scale Cultivation of Seaweed Culture in Coastal Environment of India (S.C.No. 20102) | 2014-16 | PI Dr.A.Srinivasan Co-PI Dr.S.A.Shanmugam Dr.P.Jawahar Th.N.Jeyakumar Dr.P.Padmavathy Dr.S.Aanand |
27.12 Lakhs | National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), MoEF, Chennai |
4 | Development of environmental guidelines and operational protocol for sustainable development of cage culture in the reservoirs of Tamilnadu (Sc. No. 14-103-01) | 2014-15 | Project Supervisor
Dr. G. Sugumar Dean, FC & RI PI Dr. P. Padmavathy, Associate Professor Co-PI Dr. A. Srinivasan Chair, SFREM Dr. S. Aanand Assistant Professor |
12 Lakhs | IAMWARM |
5 | Utilization of fish solid waste for biogas production for indigenous application(S.C.No.30015) | 2013-15 | PI Dr.P.Padmavathy Associate Professor Co-PI Ms.D.Manimekalai, Assistant Professor |
2.20 Lakhs | TANUVAS Research Corpus Fund |
6 | Assessing the efficiency of aquatic plants and microalgae for reducing water hardness for the culture of ornamental fishes in coastal regions of Thoothukudi (S.C.No. 30027) | 2013-15 | PI Ms.D.Manimekalai, Assistant Professor Co-PI Dr.A.Srinivasan Chair, SFREM |
2.30 Lakhs | TANUVAS Research Corpus Fund |
7 | Environmental factors influencing spatio- temporal variations of fin and shellfish eggs and larvae in Gulf of Mannar 2010 | 2010-12 | PI Dr.A.Srinivasan Co-PI Dr.P.Padmavathy |
10.50 lakhs | GOMBRT, Ramanathapuram |
Sl.No | Name of the Extension Activities / Program | Year | No. of Trainings | Beneficiary |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | NFDB Training on “Field level water quality issues and their management in aquaculture systems” | 2014-15 | 3 | 90 nos., Fish farmers, farm technicians, shrimp farmers and ornamental fish farmers |
2 | Training of Fish Composting | 2015-16 | 4 | 100 nos., Fish farmers, farm technicians, shrimp farmers and ornamental fish farmers |
3 | Water Quality management in Aquaculture Systems and World Soil Health Day Celebration | 2016-17 | 2 | 32 nos., Fish farmers, farm technicians, shrimp farmers and ornamental fish farmers |
Central Instrumentation Lab
A Central Instrumentation Lab was established during March 2015, as a separate \ scheme under the Department of Aquatic Environment Management, for common benefit of PG and Ph.D students, to pursue their research work.
Central Instrumentation Lab
Sl.No | Name of the Equipment | Year of Purchase | Company / Make |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Total Nitrogen Analyzer | 2006 | Pelican Equipment, Chennai |
2 | UV-Spectrophotometer | 2006 | Perkin Elmer, Singapore |
3 | Inverted Microscope | 2007 | Nikon |
4 | Fermentor | 2007 | Infors AG, Switzerland |
5 | Thermal Cycler | 2015 | Eppendoff |
6 | Horizontal and Vertical Gel Electrophoresis Unit | 2015 | BIotech |
7 | Gel Documentation System | 2017 | Lark Innovative |
8 | Cooling Centrifuge | 2015 | Remi Instruments |
9 | Deep Freezer | 2014 | Celfrost |
10 | Weighing Balance | 2014 | Sartorius |
11 | Flame Photometer | 2015 | Esico |
12 | Portable UV Spectrometer | 2016 | Hach Systems, USA |
13 | COD Analyser | 2016 | Hach Systems, USA |
14 | BOD Analyser | 2016 | Hach Systems, USA |
15 | Portable DO Meter | 2016 | Labman |
16 | EC, TDS Analyser | 2016 | Labman |
17 | Redox Meter | 2016 | Labman |
18 | Bomb Calorimeter | 2016 | Rajdhani |
This department has produced 51 postgraduate students and operated 12 projects funded by various States and central government funding agencies such as DBT, TNEB, GOMBRT, TANUVAS Corpus Fund and World Bank Fund with the budget outlay of Rs. 121 lakhs. The department also released 3 technologies for the benefit of farmers and fisher folks. The faculty of this department has published 195 research articles, 133 popular articles, 12 books, 18 manuals and 8 pamphlets. The department conducted 4 national seminars, one ICAR short course, 3 awareness programme, 14 farmers training programme, 9 national training programme for the scientists, teaching assistant, farmers and technicians. The department also monitors water quality during sudden algal blooms, whale stranding and also mass fish kills in local water bodies along the Thoothukudi coast.
Name | Designation | Mobile No | |
---|---|---|---|
Dr.P.Padmavathy | Professor & Head | padmavathy@tnjfu.ac.in | 9994981493 |
Dr. Rani.V | Associate Professor | rani@tnjfu.ac.in | 9443724842 |
Dr. D. Manimekalai | Assistant Professor | manimekalai@tnfu.ac.in | 9597519518 |
Mr. C. Manikavasagam | Assistant Professor | manickavasagam@tnfu.ac.in | 8608700921 |
List of Research Papers Published from 2012 Onwards