Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies amenity centre launch today

Kochi: The Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) will throw open an amenity centre to the public on Saturday. Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma will inaugurate the centre that will have a special sales counter. The 9,000 sqft three-storey building set up at a cost of Rs 2.60 crore will also have a separate outlet for showcasing fish products made by the varsity students. “The centre will have sales counters for distribution of fish seedlings, various food products developed by the students, book stalls, bank counters for use of the public as well as KUFOS students,” a statement said.

The authorities are in the process of setting up a laboratory in the centre where the public can test the quality of fish bought from outside like its freshness and the use of chemicals. “The work has started and is expected to take another eight months before becoming operational,” said a KUFOS official. The minister will inaugurate two Centres of Excellence in Aquatic Resources Management and Food

Processing Technology in the KUFOS campus. Later, she will also launch another Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Aquaculture and Aquatic Animal Health at the KUFOS Fisheries station in Puthuvype at 3.30 pm. “The Aquatic Resources Management course will deal with activities for sustainable development in the coastal regions of the state like use of clean technologies and improvisation of knowledge on conservation. The Centre of Excellence in Food Processing will help develop unconventional value-added products and address quality requirements,” the official said.