7. Research, Development and Specialised Manpower
With a view to developing a sound manpower base in ocean sector the Department of Ocean Development has been promoting basic research in ocean sciences. Efforts have been made to create facilities at universities, research institutions and IITs by providing Fellowships and Associateships. Facilities on research vessels ORV Sagar Kanya and FORV Sagar Sampada have also been extended to the participants from the Universities. Arrangements for training of scientists for handling sophisticated equipment on board the vessel have also been made.
Twenty-one research and development projects are under execution at various institutions/ laboratories/IITs which include eleven projects on development of potential drugs from the ocean. Other research and development programmes are: development of fishing gear, studies on marine micro organisms, automated shore information system, sediment water interaction in Godavari Krishna estuarine and shelf regions, mariculture of lobsters, coupled surge wave model, study of Bengal Fan, extraction of potassium chloride from mixed salt, integrated study of coral reef in Andaman and Nicobar Islands etc.
The Research Advisory Committee reviewed the progress in the implementation of research projects and approved continuation of funding support for them. The Department also extended project and research support to post graduate programmes in some select areas of ocean science and technology which provide opportunities for developing specialised manpower. Funding for the post graduate Cell for training and research in ocean circulation and ocean air coupled processes set up at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore was also continued.
During the year in review terminal reports on some of the research projects completed during the earlier years have been evaluated by the experts. Major findings of these research projects are:
(i) The investigations under the project on Ecobiology of Marine Fouling and Wood Boring Organisms along the Indian Coast, by the University of Kerala, revealed that timber in sea water exposure along the sea front and backwaters is threatened by decay through action of bacteria and fungi and marine boring organisms. Hence there is need for conservation of timber structures and to deal with the problem of marine biodeterioration.
(ii) The studies undertaken by the University of Kolhapur revealed that there is a visible effect of water pollution in the areas near sea on estuarine ecosystem and the levels of heavy metals in mangrove leaves are higher than those reported as severely toxic in Bhatye estuary of Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra.
(iii) Based on the sea truth investigations undertaken by the National Remote Sensing Agency, Hyderabad under the project on Ocean Primary Productivity using Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper Data, an attempt was made to develop theoretical models and to establish relationship between phytoplankton pigment concentration and volume reflectance.
(iv) Investigations by Karnataka University, Dharwar on marine and estuarine fauna on west coast (Kanara Coast) showed that Sharavati and Kali estuaries contained unpolluted water which supported a good fishery resource and the estuarine area is suitable for aquaculture farming.
(v) Studies on circulation and sedimentation process near the entrance of a few important ports along Karnataka coast undertaken by the University of Agricultural Sciences, College of Fisheries, Mangalore indicate that dredging of navigational channel near Mangalore, Coondapur and Honavar ports may be necessary to reduce the effect of siltation for ensuring safety of navigation in these ports.
(vi) Studies on coastal dynamics conducted by Mangalore University in parts of west coast of India revealed that beach erosion and accretion are controlled by wave and current regimes.
(vii) Biological monitoring of heavy metals in the Bay of Bengal along the coast of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry conducted by Annamalai University in five different sectors of coastline indicated that heavy metal pollution is increasing in some locations.
(viii) The studies on physiological and biochemical properties of nitrogen fixing blue green algae from Schirmacher oasis in Antarctica suggest that the physiological and biochemical processes are optimally operative between 4 and 15 degree temperature.
(ix) Under the project on technology for production, processing and shelf-life assessment of fish mince and product development undertaken by the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Kochi methods were developed for the production of various value added products from the low cost fish and demonstrated to the fish processors and new entrepreneurs in the field. A few processors and women cooperatives have started producing and marketing value added products using mince from the low cost fish.
(x) Drugs from the Sea
The National Project on Development of Potential Drugs from the sea was initiated in November 1990 with participation of 10 laboratories. The Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow was selected to coordinate the activities of all the centres. During the course of investigations in the first phase of this project promising activity has been observed in 34% of marine biota studied while in the land organisms only 21 % have significant activity. Even more interesting is the fact that certain types of activities are obtained from marine biota which are rare and non-existent in terrestrial fauna and flora.
140 specimens of marine fauna comprising mainly of porifera, coelenterates, echinodermata and mollusca and marine flora belonging to chlorophyta, rhodophyta and cyanophyta along with mangrove plants have been collected from Andaman Nicobar regions, Tamil Nadu and other eastern and western coasts. The specimens have been preserved in Herbarium and sent to the National Institute of Oceanography Goa for inclusion in the National Repository. Help for identification has been taken from various agencies and authorities. Only few specimens have remained unidentified. All the collected specimens have been extracted by two solvents (a) methanol and (b) chloroform- methanol(I:I) mixture. They have also been subjected to biological screening. In addition,154 samples were received from other participating laboratories for biological screening. They were from CSMCRI Bhavnagar (27), PGMBS Calcutta (12), University College of Science, Calcutta (5), Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, IlCT Hyderabad (17), ALMPG IBMS Madras (12), RRL Bhubaneswar (10) and NIO Goa (14).
As a result of biological screening 51 marine organisms have been identified for follow up work. However, final selection will depend upon the availability of large quantity of the material, the ease of collection and the chemical nature of active compounds.
250 samples of marine fauna and flora from different part of coastal area of India are expected to be collected during the next phase.
CDRI has been providing support for analytical services and publishing 'Ocean Drugs Alert' as well as arranging periodic workshops and symposia. Initiative was also taken to develop data storage facilities in respect of this programme. The Department has approved the plan for establishment of a National Data Centre at CDRI Lucknow for drugs from the sea.
It is hoped that during the next phase at least 2-3 materials should become available for clinical evaluation and facilities for their backwater cultivation established. A viable pool of trained manpower in the area of marine biopharmaceutics, pharmacology and chemistry will also be developed. 28 research papers have been published. Three research scholoars have been awarded Ph.D. degree under this project.
7.1 Integrated Studies of the Deep Sea Fan of the Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal has extraordinary geological and geomorphological features. The nationally coordinated project on Integrated Studies of the Deep Sea Fan of the Bay of Bengal initiated by the Department of Science and Technology during 1986 was transferred to the Department of Ocean Development with effect from January 1991. The plan of work of this project includes seismic imaging of the fan system, acquisition of equipment, setting up a seismological station and development of ocean bottom seismography. Organisations participating in the programme are: Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, Jadavpur University , Madras University, Andhra University, Indian Institute of Geomagnetism, University of Kerala, National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, During the year 1992-93, fInancial support was provided after careful evaluation of the research projects received from the participating institutions. A research cruise of ORV Sagar Kanya was also devoted to study the magnetic anomalies, sedimentation process, ocean bottom magnetic measurements etc. The data collected is being analysed at the National Institute of Oceanography, National Geophysical Laboratory, Andhra and Madras Universities.