Central Inland Capture Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI) is the oldest research institution in the field of inland fisheries research and training in India. Established initially as Central Inland Fisheries Research Station by the Government of India at Kolkata in 1947, it assumed the status of a national institution and was shifted to Barrackpore in 1959. The Institute came under the administrative control of Indian Council of Agricultural Research in October 1967.
The main objective of the Institute is to conduct investigation for proper appraisal of inland fisheries resources in the country, and to evolve suitable methods for their conservation and optimum utilization. Among the major activities of the Institute are: fish seed prospecting from rivers, fish seed transportation, induced breeding and nursery management of carps, bundh breeding of Chinese carps, composite fish culture, air breathing fish culture, aquatic weed control, fishery management of reservoirs, integrated farming system, and brackwater fish farming.
The research activities of the Institute are organised in seven divisions - riverine, reservoir, floodplain wetlands, estuarine, environmental monitoring and fish health protection, resource assessment. There are eight sections at the institute headquarters - the sections of economics, extension, engineering, library, project monitoring and documentation, technical cell, and administration and audit - providing necessary support to the research divisions.
