Ludhiana 19 August 2026:- The Fisheries Start-up and Aquapreneurship Stakeholders Meet at Vet Varsity brought together key stakeholders to encourage innovation driven technology and service-based Start-Ups in the fisheries sector. The programme was organized by National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE)-Fisheries Innovation and Start-up Hub (FISHub), Hyderabad, in collaboration with the College of Fisheries, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University. Over 300 stakeholders attended the meet, including fisheries scientists, students, fisheries professionals, start-ups, fisheries officers and farmers. 
MANAGE-FISHub serves as a national platform to mentor and promote innovative start-ups in fisheries and aquaculture sectors, through mentoring, legal, financial, and technological as well as IP related support, for transforming novel ideas into successful business models. 
Addressing the stakeholders, Chief Guest of the event Dr. J. P. S. Gill, Vice-Chancellor, highlighted the importance of start-ups and entrepreneurship in developing Atmanirbhar and Viksit Bharat. Sharing university’s consistent efforts in encouraging Start-ups & promoting entrepreneurship among veterinary, dairy and fisheries professionals, he emphasized on the need to facilitate effective field-level adoption of emerging technologies in alignment with national priorities and food security. To boost start-up ecosystem in the university a Veterinary & Livestock Innovation & Incubation Foundation (VLIIF) has been established to nurture prospective startup ideas in veterinary, livestock & fisheries, he informed.
The Guests of Honour, Dr. Kanwar Barjinder Singh, Director of Punjab Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute (PAMETI), Ludhiana and Sh. Hardev Singh, Director and Warden Fisheries, Punjab apprised the fisheries stakeholders about various promotional schemes and capacity building services offered by their respective institutes for nurturing start-ups and promoting entrepreneurship among youth, farming community and women stakeholders. 
Dr. Saravanan Raj, Director (Agricultural Extension), MANAGE and CEO, MANAGE-FISHub, apprised the stakeholders about FISHub objectives for transforming Indian fisheries sector through innovation, entrepreneurship, capacity building and ecosystem development. He emphasized the role of mentoring and nurturing fisheries start-ups and facilitating linkages among entrepreneurs, academia, government agencies and industry to accelerate technology adoption and commercialization.
Spotlighting importance of academia-stakeholders meets, Dr. Ravinder Singh Grewal, Director of Extension Education, expressed that the event provided an important converging spot for scientist, students, professionals, extension workers, farmers, and entrepreneurial youth to exchange ideas, develop networks and explore opportunities for metamorphosing Start-up Ideas into exemplary realities. 
Innovative Start-up Ideas were presented by aspiring stakeholders, showcasing increasing enthusiasm and zeal of youth in start-ups and entrepreneurship in the fisheries sector.