Blue Economy is the Economic Activities that Directly or Indirectly Take Place in the Ocean and Seas, Use Outputs, Goods and Services into Ocean and Land Based Activities

oceans, seas and marine resources for increasing the economic benefits to Small Island developing states and least developed countries for sustainable use of marine resources, including sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture and tourism. Blue economy has great potential for boosting the economic growth, employment and sustenance of economy (Figure 1). It supports food security, managing and protecting the ocean environment, creation of high value job and diversification to address new resources for energy, new drugs and value chemicals, protein food, deep sea minerals, security and threats including services to human welfare and measures for resilience climatic changes. Considering its wide range of valuable resources, the Blue Economy is gaining increasing interest in Indian Ocean Rim Region for the economic development and for the human welfare. Indian Ocean supports with wide array of biodiversity and ecosystem resources from mangroves, coral reefs and sea-grass beds to deep oceans and provides economic value product

Diazotrophic activity and ferric phosphate mineralizing ability in estuarine sulfate reducing bacteria

Twenty strainsofsulfate reducing bacteria were isolated from water and sediments of Cochin backwaters, India. Five of them were identified as Desulfovibrio desulfuricans and fifteen as Desulfotomaculum orientis. All the Desulfovibrio were isolated from sediments whereas Desulfotomaculum was present in both water and sediment. All the bacteria grew at pH of slightly alkaline reaction and lowered the Eh from -105 to - 270 m V of the growth medium. Complete reduction of sulfate to sulfide by the bacteria was evidenced by blackening of Post gate culture media. All isolates were able to fix dinitrogen in anaerobic N-free modified Postgate broth. In addition to nitrogen fixing ability, 5 of the Desulfotomaculum and 3 of the Desulfovibrio were able to produce soluble phosphorus in growth medium from insoluble FePO4. A scheme for FePO4 mineralization in marine and estuarine sediments has been proposed

Chitinolytic bacteria in Penaeus indicus

Quantitative distribution of chitinolytic bacteria from the hepatopancreas, stomach and intestine of a commercially important marine prawn Penaeus indicus was studied. Twenlyfive representative bacteria were isolated from colonies forming well defined clear zones on chitin agar medium and were identified. Eighteen of the isolates were members of the genus Vibrio and the rest were members of the genus Pseudomonas

Effect of pH on growth and nitrogen fixation of Azotobacter Spp.

Three species o f Azotobacter were isolated from prawn-cum-paddy fields o f Kerala. These strains were found to have the optimum pH for growth and nitrogen fixation near or slightly above neutrality, i.e., in the pH range o f 7.0 to 8.

Women in fisheries sector and entrepreneurship development: Steps for improvement

Aquaculture now plays a multi-disciplinary role and aims at providing food security generating employment; economic gains the optimum utilization of resources and finally upliftmcnt of the socio-economical status for those who are directly or indirectly connected with exploitation, production and processing of fish. It has vast potential in providing livelihood security as well as fulfilling the nutritional requirements of the growing population. Traditionally, aquaculture in Southeast Asia has been carried out at the household level with family members often contributing to different activities at specific times. In recent years, it has become a commercial activity and easily accessible in peri-urban areas with access to inputs and markets. Improvement in fish breeding and husbandry technologies, as well as the introduction of new or modified species, mainly through government and non-government organization (NGO) helped in increasing production levels through small-scale rural aquaculture

Aquaculture and Marine Biotechnology Programme in India

Marine biotechnology has been a major focus world-wide through bio-discovery of marine microbes, invertebrates, micro-algae and macro-algae. In the commercial production of bio-active molecules and pharmaceuticals it plays a pivotal role. The global market for products from marine biotechnology is expected to reach over US$ 4 billion by 2015 and therefore marine bio-resources emerging with a lot of scope for the health and well being of aquacultur

Studies on certain nitrogen cycle bacteria in prawn culture fields of Kerala.

Studies on certain nitrogen cycle bacteria in prawn culture fields of Kerala

AMELIORATIVE ROLE OF BEE HONEY AND ROYAL JELLY AGAINST CISPLATIN INDUCED ALTERATION IN HEMATOLOGICAL PARAMETERS IN MALE WISTER ALBINO RAT

Objective: This study aims to investigate the ameliorative role of dietary bee honey and royal jelly against cisplatin-induced alterations in hematological parameters in male wistar albino rat.Methods: Male wistar albino rats of same age and weight were randomly divided into four groups; G, I: control group which was given 0.9% saline, G: II: cisplatin (7 mg/kg/d) was injected intraperitoneally for 15 d, G, III bee honey with royal jelly (500 mg/kg/d of honey and 100 mg/kg/d of royal jelly) fed orally daily for 15 d, G, IV: cisplatin (7 mg/kg/d) was injected intraperitoneally and honey (500 mg/kg/d) and royal Jelly (100 mg/kg/d) fed orally daily for 15 d. The hematological parameters like total number of white blood cells (WBCs), red blood cells (RBCs), platelets, % of hemoglobin (Hb), and mean values of packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were measured by using automated hematology system.Results: Cisplatin treated rats revealed a significant decrease in total number of white blood cells (WBCs), red blood cells (R. B. Cs), platelets, percentage of hemoglobin (Hb), and mean values of packed cell volume (PCV), corpuscular volume (MCV) and corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) as compared to control group. Royal jelly and honey treated group of rats revealed a significant increase in all blood parameters compared to control group. Dietary bee honey with royal jelly along with cisplatin-treated rats revealed significant increas as compared to animals treated with cisplatin (G, II) and the computed significant valus for the above parameters are 10.00, 2.30, 8,54, 12.00, 35.00, 47.40 and 32,30 respectively.Conclusion: Bee honey and royal jelly could be used as dietary preventive natural products against cisplatin-induced hematological alterations during the treatment of cancer

Gene editing (CRISPR-Cas) technology and fisheries sector

Considering the advantages of gene editing technologies, in recent years, emphasis has been given on three main techniques of gene editing i.e. zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and the CRISPR/Cas9 RNA-guided endonuclease system. In all of these three technologies one thing is common i.e. the technology utilizes restriction enzymes to break down the double stranded DNA molecule at a targeted location with the help of another molecule of homologous binding protein or RNA, which is also called as a guide RNA molecule. This targeted breaking and repair of the DNA molecule as per our requirement is generally viewed as a great breakthrough in gene therapy methods. In fisheries sector, in order to promote aquaculture/mariculture activities, aquaculture industries are facing number of challenges, particularly in area of quality and demand of seed production, control of health and disease management, production of quality traits with phenotypically improved varieties, and strengthening of immune system. Several efforts are being made both at public and private sectors to develop scientific technologies to meet these challenges and substantial achievements have also been made. But still these challenges remained as major constraints in hampering the growth of this industry as per the demand and expectations. However, with the advent of now recently developed gene editing techniques, we may have to explore and evaluate the possibilities of applications of this technology as a long lasting solution in addressing at least some of the vital issues of the aquaculture industry particularly in those related to altering targeted gene structure in the species for positive impact