Central Institute of Fisheries Education

Established on June 6, 1961, by the Government of India with the assistance of FAO/UNDP, the Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE) was founded to provide post-graduate education and training primarily to the in-service fisheries personnel in order to bolster fisheries developmental initiatives in the country. Initially housed at the Institute of Science Building in Bombay (now Mumbai), CIFE commenced academic activities in three divisions—Fishery Biology, Fishery Technology, and Fishery Economics—offering a two-year postgraduate course in Diploma in Fisheries Science (D.F.Sc.). In 1964, the institute relocated to a rented building at Masjid Bunder, Bombay.

Collaborating actively with the Government of India, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations played a pivotal role in enhancing CIFE's infrastructural capabilities by providing sophisticated equipment and high-standard expertise. Under FAO/UNDP assistance in 1968, the fishing vessel MFV Harpodon was acquired, offering essential facilities for on-board training in marine fishing, fishery biology, and oceanography.

The institute's headquarters shifted to its own building at Versova in March 1967, and it acquired its first center, the Inland Fisheries Training Centre, Barrackpore in West Bengal, from the Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI) in October 1967. CIFE also took control of the former Fisheries Extension Centers of the Government of India, organizing them as sub-centers for Inland Fisheries Operatives Training in Agra and Hyderabad, which were later relocated to Chinhat near Lucknow (UP) and Kakinada (AP).

To meet infrastructural needs related to aqua farms, the Brackishwater Fish Farm at Kakinada was transferred to CIFE in September 1968, and the Freshwater Fish Farm at Balabhadrapuram was acquired in 1973 from the Government of Andhra Pradesh. In 1967, the University of Bombay recognized CIFE as a study center for M.Sc. and Ph.D. programs in Applied Zoology and Biochemistry. Other institutions such as IIT Mumbai, IIT Kharagpur, and Mangalore University also acknowledged CIFE as a study center for Ph.D. programs.