Dr.E.G.Silas, the doyen of Indian marine fisheries

Dr. E. G. Silas, a widely respected personality and eminent scientist in the field of fisheries and aquaculture research of India, is aptly known as a doyen of India’s marine fisheries research. Dr. Silas has donned several roles during his illustrious and seamless career spanning over six decades namely, the Vice-Chancellor of Kerala Agricultural University (KAU), the Director of ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), the founder Director of ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA), Chairman of Marine Products Exports Development Authority (MPEDA), founder Chairman of the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), Officer on Special Duty for the establishment of Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI) at Port Blair, etc.

Dr. Silas was born on 10th January 1928 in Ceylon, Sri Lanka. During the initial days of his illustrious career, he carried out surveys of the hill stream fishes in the watersheds of the Western Ghats. His revision of fish taxa from the rivers and lakes of the Himalayas, Central Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, and his work from the Western Ghats helped him to contribute to Hora's ‘Satpura Hypothesis’ on the occurrence of fishes of Malayan affinities in the Western Ghats. Dr. Silas joined as a marine biologist in Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) in 1963 and started the works on Tunas from the Indian Seas. The cutting edge research topics initiated by Dr. Silas in the Indian marine research included mariculture practices, tuna fisheries in the Indian seas, marine mammal research, ecosystem-based fisheries, satellite remote sensing techniques in fisheries, the concept of FGR, green certification of freshwater ornamental fish, and tuna baitfish culture, etc. His report on the "exploratory fishing by R V Varuna" during 1969 is a precursor to what we call today "ecosystem-based fisheries." Dr. Silas was appointed as the Director of CMFRI in June 1975. He upgraded CMFRI into a world-class center of research, training, and extension center through the improvement of both physical infrastructures and by developing both scientifically and technically qualified manpower having high competence and caliber. Two of the units developed by him in CMFRI are later grown into prestigious national research centers of the country, namely, ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR) and the Centre for Marine Living Resources (CMLRE). During his research career, Dr. Silas has published nearly 300 scientific papers.

The role of Dr. Silas towards higher education in the Indian fisheries field was also remarkable. His educational ideas made a profound influence on Indian fisheries and, he established the unique education programs in CMFRI aided by UNDP/FAO/ICAR, namely, Centre of Advanced Studies in Mariculture for Masters and Doctoral degree programs in Mariculture. Many fisheries and aquaculture industries, ICAR fisheries research institutes, agricultural universities, various other national and international organizations have already enjoyed the manpower from this educational program. Dr. Silas was appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of KAU in 1987. Within five years of taking charge, he was able to turn the KAU into one of the leading five Agricultural Universities in the country, at par with the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), and National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI). Dr. Silas passed away peacefully on 27th April 2018 at Kochi (Kerala), leaving an irreplaceable loss to the fisheries and aquaculture sector of the country.