The annual Industry Day was celebrated this year as part of CIFE WAVE 2017 with much fanfare and wider participation from Industry, Institutions as well as students from across the country. The main unanimous take home message the industry was very loud and clear: move beyond the cosy confines of government jobs, and look towards the flourishing aquaculture and fisheries industry for lucrative job prospects and challenging entrepreneurial ventures. The program started post-lunch and had a panel of 18 top leaders people representing different sectors of the industry like shrimp hatchery, feed company, additives, pharma company, corporate farming, ropes and cages company, seafood processing and exports, certification systems, NABARD, EIC, CMFRI, MPEDA, etc. It was a matter of pride that as many as 10 among them were alumni of CIFE, Mumbai.

Dr J.K Jena (DDG, Fisheries), Dr. Gopal Krishna (Director and VC, CIFE, Dr Chadda (Head, Aquaculture Division, CIFE) welcomed the guests and opened the floor for discussion, while Dr. B.B Nayak was the Master of Ceremony. Dr. Manoj Sharma spoke about the changes brought about by his entrepreneurship venture in Gujarat which increased from 4 to 450 ponds in just 2 decades. It was started with a humble amount of Rs 40 thousand and is of Rs 2500 crores value currently with a turnover of Rs 100 crores annually. Mr. Ansuman Chand, a successful seafood entrepreneur and alumni of OUAT and CIFE broke the ice with students and exhorted students into a debate on govt. vs. private job preferences. Mr G.S.Rath, Marketing Head of Godrej Agrovet, spoke about their collaboration with CIFE where a minimum of 2-3 students a recruited every year. There is a requirement of at least 10,000 people in the aquaculture sector with technical knowledge, managerial skills as well as dedication.

Dr. S. Jacob, Joint Director, EIC told that some attributes which are needed in a student wanting job in private companies are right attitude, willingness to work, knowledge and skill, patience, involvement and satisfaction. Mr. Mahesh, alumni of CoF, Ratnagiri and CIFE told about his struggle to get into MPSC as a fisheries officer and how he left the job after a month after realizing lack of promotion and incentives to wok, and how he went on to establish India’s first surimi plant in Gujarat for a private firm which turned out to be a success story as 16 such plants have come up now after. He stressed upon the need of Vertical and Horizontal Thinking.

Mr. Sandeep Ahirao, alumni of Ratnagiri CoF spoke about his experiences of 10 year in shrimp farming and 15 years in marketing. He motivated the students by telling them to take challenges and not to limit their options by choosing job security over their potential. The questions/suggestions given by students related to entry level salary, salary packages, funding for research, working hours, etc. were acknowledged verbally and were taken into consideration for implementing by the panel members. Mr. Ilanchezhian and Mr. Gopa Kumar, both successful entrepreneurs and leading consultants in shrimp farming industry spoke about their struggles and rewarding career in the industry and urged students to take risks. The program ended with concluding remarks by Dr. J.K Jena and Dr. Gopal Krishna and vote of thanks by Dr. B.B. Nayak.