THE College of Fisheries at Shirgaon in Ratnagiri is one of the 13 such colleges in India that offer undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in fisheries. It is affiliated to the Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth and the Fisheries Alumni Association of Ratnagiri and, happily enough for such an institution, is close to the coast. You might have thought that there would be few takers for this kind of course, but no, Dr. Prakash Chandrashekhar Rage, the director of the college, says otherwise. �Students come from all over the state and country for the course. The eligibility is XIIth standard with biology. Ours is a four-year degree programme in which students learn about 52 courses in six major disciplines of fishing science. These include fisheries biology, aqua culture � fresh water and marine, fisheries hydrography, fish processing technology and microbiology, fisheries engineering, fisheries economy, and fisheries extension education.�

Students with rural backgrounds and who come from coastal areas apply for admission because the college comes under the agriculture university. And of late, the Koli community of fisherfolk have also shown interest in studying what for them has been a centuries-old family business. �Students must have a certain fascination for the sea but it is not a condition,� says Dr. Rage. �For instance, the Koli students acquire knowledge faster and better than the others. And students who pass out from here with a BFS degree (Bachelor in Fisheries Science) can go in for higher studies abroad to the US and Australia,� he adds. �There is not a single student who is unemployed. Fisheries is a big business. Interviews of students are conducted by prospective employers on the campus itself.�

Dr. Raje, who has been associated with the College of Fisheries for 31 years, and is himself Ph.D in Zoology with specialisation in Marine Biology, says that the students learn the fisheries business completely in four years. When they pass out, many of them start their own shrimp farms, fish trading firms, or they go to China, Middle East, Africa and Goa where job opportunities await them. They all become experts in marine life and are capable of identifying any fish in the world. �Without that, they can�t get a degree,� says Dr. Raje. �Every student, boy and girl, must know classification and nomenclature of fish.�

College of Fisheries
Shirgaon, Ratnagiri 415 629.