Department of Marine Living Resources

The history of teaching and research in different branches of Marine Sciences in the Andhra University can be traced back to the latter half the forties when, for the first time, the late Prof. R.Gopala Aiyar organized in 1947 the B.Sc. honors course in Zoology with Marine Biology as a special subject. He also initiated and directed research in various aspects of marine biology coupled with hydrography. About the same time the late Prof. C.Mahadevan, the then Head of the Department of Geology initiated investigations in Marine Geology. The first Education commission of 1948-49 with Prof. S.Radhakrishna as Chairman, in its report recommended that the Andhra University with its unique location close to the coast should be developed as one of the centres of teaching and research in Marine Sciences.

Marine studies in the Andhra University gained momentum and a sense of direction when Prof. E.C.La Fond of the U.S. Navy Electronics Laboratory came to Andhra University as a Visiting Professor during 1952-53 and again during 1955-56.

During the Second Plan period, the University Grants Commission sanctioned grants for the construction of a Marine Biological Laboratory, then attached to the Department of Zoology. Further grants were sanctioned for extension of the building and for equipment. During the V plan period the University Grants Commission sanctioned grants for starting the Department of Marine Living Resources for offering interdisciplinary courses, involving the Departments of Chemistry, Geology, Geophysics, Meteorology & Oceanography and Statistics.

The Department of Marine Living Resources came in to existence in 1976 and started initially with Late. Prof. S. Dutt and Prof. K. V. Ramana Murty as founder faculty members. The Department is started initially an interdisciplinary course, M.Sc Marine Sciences with Marine Biology as specialization. Later, in 1989 the Department has started a second course, Capture and culture Fisheries. Due to the increasing demand for the Manpower in culture fisheries a third course, Coastal Aquaculture and Marine Biotechnology (CAMB) was started in 1995 to develop Manpower in CAMB. Infrastructure facilities like Buildings, Teaching Classrooms, Laboratories, Library Hall, Conference Hall and specialized facilities like and Mariculture Laboratories with algal culture rooms, sea water intake systems were developed by the Department of Marine Living Resources with the financial Grant - in - Aid from the Department of Ocean Development, New Delhi to provide training and industrial type of exposure to the students. In 1996, a fourth course, Marine Biotechnology was started as an emerging thrust area of Marine Sciences which was funded by University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi. In 2001, the Marine Sciences (Marine Biology) course and Capture and Culture Fisheries Courses were restructured as Marine Biology and Fisheries Course.

Now, the Department is offering three Post Graduate programmes of two years duration (four semesters) viz.,

1. M.Sc. Marine Biology and Fisheries
2. M.Sc. Coastal Aquaculture and Marine Biotechnology
3. M.Sc Marine Biotechnology