ICAR-CIFT Secures Indian Patent for Waterless Live Transportation Technology for Aquatic Species

NEW DELHI — The ICAR–Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT) has been granted an Indian patent for an innovative technology aimed at the waterless live transportation of aquatic species. The patented invention, titled “A System and a Corresponding Method for Waterless Live Transportation of Aquatic Species,” is designed to serve as an alternative to traditional water-based and existing waterless transport systems.

Conventional live aquatic transport often presents several logistical challenges. These include the heavy load associated with transporting water, the necessity for separate aeration, filtration, and cooling arrangements, continuous power requirements, and a heavy reliance on plastic bags and other packaging materials. The newly patented system addresses these specific operational hurdles.

According to the details released, the technology is engineered to provide a cost-efficient, sustainable, and less power-intensive approach. The system operates under controlled hyperbaric-hypothermic conditions, which involve elevated pressure and reduced temperature. It comprises an insulated container equipped with specialized devices and holding arrangements to accommodate the aquatic species safely.

A notable technical feature of the system is its integrated monitoring and control mechanism. Sensors are deployed to continuously track critical parameters such as oxygen levels, humidity, and temperature. Predefined threshold values can be stored within the system and compared against real-time measurements, allowing the unit to generate automated alerts whenever operating parameters move outside the desired range.

Furthermore, the technology supports both manual and automatic modes of operation. Experimental demonstrations conducted with various aquatic species have yielded promising results, recording survival rates of up to 95 per cent during trials.

The invention was conceptualized and developed by a multidisciplinary team of CIFT scientists, consisting of Parvathy U, B Madhusudhana Rao, Murali S, Binsi P K, Sathish Kumar K, Vishnu R Nair, and Jithin Joy T. This institutional advancement represents a significant step toward developing efficient and sustainable practices within the fisheries and aquaculture sectors, potentially transforming how live aquatic products are handled and distributed commercially.

"The patent granted to ICAR-CIFT highlights the importance of logistical innovation in specialized sectors like aquaculture. By addressing major cost and resource hurdles such as heavy water loads and continuous power dependencies, this technology introduces practical efficiency to the supply chain. For entrepreneurs and businesses operating in fisheries, adopting sustainable and temperature-controlled innovations can significantly reduce operational overheads and mortality rates during transit, opening up new avenues for commercial scalability." — Dr. Shishir Gupta, Founder & CEO, StartupLanes