GADVASU scientist attended foreign training in University of Antwerp, Belgium

Ludhiana, May 23, 2016: Dr.Surjya Narayan Datta, Assistant Professor (Fisheries), College of Fisheries, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary & Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana attended three months international training in the field of “Climate change and Fisheries: using biomarkers to predict fish growth and fitness in commercial species” at Systemic Physiological and Ecotoxicological Research, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Belgium. The said training programme was fundedunder the scheme “Second Push to Agricultural development in Punjab -Training of Scientists Abroad” by Punjab state Government through “The Punjab State Farmers Commission, Mohali”. Under this training programme, Dr. Datta was expertised to quantify the expression pattern of different genes in fish associated with stress related physiological changes, induced by climate change.
Dr. Meera D. Ansal, Head, Department of Fisheries Resource Management, College of Fisheries, GADVASU stated that in fisheries sector, climate change is an additional pressure on the top of already imposed pressures to extract more food from the existing aquatic resources as well as habitat destructing pressures from anthropogenic activities. Hence it is vital not only to assess the impact of climate change in the aquatic resources but also to work out strategies for building up climate change resilience in these resources for conservation and productivity enhancement.
According to Dr. Asha Dhawan, Dean, College of Fisheries, GADVASU, the present training in this area will surely help to evaluate the impact of climate change on the fisheries sector within the State and to formulate adaptations and mitigation strategies to cope up with the changing climatic conditions. She also added that College of Fisheries has already submitted a project entitled “Adaptation strategies for inland fisheries and fishermen community for climate resilience and livelihood security in Punjab, India” to Punjab State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) for funding from the Green Climate Fund/ Adaption Fund throughNational Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). The major objective of the proposed project is to enhance the resilience capacity of both capture and culture sectors to protect the natural as well as cultural stock against climate change.