“As offshore marine resources are depleting fast, the CMFRI along with Fisheries Department will plant coral reefs in all the coastal districts to improve the resources. Coral reefs provide food and shade to fish, which will result in higher breeding,” Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said during the inauguration function here.

Jayakumar said due to overexploitation of offshore marine resources, the fish population has reduced drastically over the years. Because of this, fish was now available only in the deep sea. Though State and Central governments have initiated many schemes for deep sea fishing, the depletion of offshore marine resources has affected the fibre boat fishermen. “So, the State government had allotted Rs 18 crore to CMFRI to improve the situation,” he added.

CMFRI conducted a study and identified the proper sites to place these reefs. In Chennai, they would be placed at Odaikuppam, Alcot Kuppam and Ururkuppam.

These reefs would enable the growth of planktons, the primary source of food for fish, besides providing shelter for fish to breed. The results would be visible in three months, he said, noting that more than 35,000 fibre boat fishermen and their families would be benefitted by this.

Tamil Nadu has become the leader in fish production with 7.75 lakh tonnes per year, beating Gujarat. One of the important reasons for this was the better infrastructure available for fishing in the State, the Minister added.