Noted fisheries scientist A Ramachandran is dead

Noted Fisheries scientist and Vice-Chancellor of Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) Dr. A Ramachandran died due to cardiac arrest at his residence in Kalamasery here on Friday, the university said. Ramachandran, 61, had been the Fisheries Advisor to the Sultanate of Oman and expert member in many national and international fisheries councils and organizations.

Son of former Cochin Mayor and Congress veteran late K S N Menon, Ramachandran is survived by wife and a son. While being the Director of the School of Industrial Fisheries of Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), Ramachandran was elevated to the position of Vice-Chancellor of KUFOS in June 2016.

It was under his leadership that the first-ever International Blue Economy Congress in the country was held here in November last year. Ramachandran who secured his Post Doctoral from Delft Technical University, The Netherlands, had published over 300 internationally recognized research papers and authored many books in fisheries and guided as many as 132 research scholars to secure their PhDs.

A committed scientist, Ramachandran had led the researchers to study the plastic waste menace in Vembanad lake in Kerala. He had played a crucial role in starting over 20 postgraduate courses in KUFOS in various subjects related to Ocean Environment, Coastal Zone Management, Climate Change Studies, Environmental Science and Disaster Management, the university said.