I have worked at CIBA since 1990 and currently head the Aquatic Animal Health and Environment Division, leading the research programme on aquatic animal disease surveillance with special reference to emerging issues in brackishwater aquaculture. I provide expert services to the Department of Animal Husbandry Dairying and Fisheries, Government of India, for aquatic animal quarantine, import of aquaculture inputs and related technical matters. This has included work on the import risk analysis for the introduction of Pacific white shrimp to India. I previously worked at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Cochin beginning in 1984, and carried out research on the occurrence of heterotrophic microorganisms and mercury contamination in coastal and marine waters.
I joined the scientific service in 2008 and have since worked on diverse areas of aquatic microbiology and aquatic diseases. This has included understanding the virulence of bacterial pathogens, quorum sensing, and bacterial toxins. Presently, I am seeking to understand the lytic and lysogenic phages of aquatic origin and their role in controlling luminescent vibriosis in shrimp hatcheries. I have worked on pond microbial ecosystems and their manipulation using biofloc and periphyton-based systems. I have more than 30 publications in peer reviewed journals and serve as reviewer for journals including Aquaculture, Aquaculture Research and Aquaculture International.
My research interests include the reproductive biology, endocrinology and captive breeding of brackishwater fish. I have nine years research experience in brackishwater breeding of brackishwater fishes in captivity and their farming in different costal states of India, with hands-on experience in fish hatchery design and operation. I have demonstrated the hatchery operation and farming of different brackishwater fishes such as Asian seabass, milkfish, pearl spot and brackishwater catfish to small and marginal farmers. I am experienced in the establishment and operation of recirculating aquaculture systems for broodstock development and farming of fish and shrimp. I also have experience in the farming of crab and shrimp in box and pond systems, respectively.
I have been working in the Aquatic Animal Health and Environment Division of ICAR-CIBA since 2007. I have a rich experience in the epidemiology of shrimp and fish diseases, the pathobiology of vibriosis in shrimp culture, antibiotic residues in shrimp aquaculture, nanotherapy for Vibrio control, the pathobiology of parasitic diseases of fish and shrimp, and have contributed to disease diagnosis, control and prevention in aquaculture. I maintain interests in pathobiology and therapeutics of fish and shrimp diseases. I am an editorial member of BAOJ Aquaculture and the Journal of Bacteriology and Vaccine Research, and a certified reviewer of Fish and Shellfish Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis.
