Inbakandan Dhinakarasamy is a Professor and Head of the National Facility for Coastal and Marine Research (NFCMR) at the Centre for Ocean Research, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology ...
IUCN COMMISSION GROUP
IUCN CEM Ecosystem Based Aquaculture Specialist Group
Group leadership
Dr Dhinakarasamy INBAKANDAN
Inbakandan Dhinakarasamy is a Professor and Head of the National Facility for Coastal and Marine Research (NFCMR) at the Centre for Ocean Research, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. With over two decades of experience in marine science, his expertise spans marine biology, fisheries, aquaculture, ocean bioscience, genomics, nanobiotechnology, and coastal conservation. He serves as a Lead Author for the Second Global Assessment of IPBES and has successfully executed more than 37 funded research projects supported by Government of India agencies such as the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences (BRNS), and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), along with international organizations. He has played a significant role in strengthening research infrastructure and fostering industry–academia collaborations, including leading initiatives that achieved NABL accreditation under ISO/IEC 17025 standards for national-level research facilities. His work aligns closely with Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life Below Water), advancing sustainable ocean management, biodiversity conservation, and ecosystem-based aquaculture approaches. A recipient of the DST-SERB Young Scientist Award and the K. Chidambaram Memorial National Award, he has developed over 11 patents and published more than 65 peer-reviewed articles, contributing to innovation, policy-relevant science, and capacity building in marine and coastal research.
Future World demands of marine protein will be mainly covered by the increasing supply of aquaculture products, which as growing activity in many coastal and marine areas, is faced with environmental, social and technical issues. Aquaculture development requires addressing its future relationship with marine biodiversity, ecosystem services and climate change scenarios.
The Ecosystem-based Aquaculture Group (E-bAG) is an IUCN experts group with global expertise on aquaculture management and development, including biodiversity, ecosystem processes and precautionary approaches.
The E-bAG is being established to address the need for aquaculture competence within the Commission on Ecosystem Management of the IUCN, contributing to the leading paradigm in conservation and management issues of aquatic environments.
Objectives
The mission of the IUCN/CEM/E-bAG is to foster the sustainable development of aquaculture and to promote the conservation of related marine and freshwater biodiversity. To fulfil this mission, the IUCN/CEM/E-bAG will seek to influence aquaculture policy and related conservation strategies as well as to propose responsible management methods and tools. The IUCN/CEM/E-bAG will build bridges between stakeholders; it will offer guidance to managers and practitioners and will develop an integrated approach between institutions and environmental organizations, both governmental and non-governmental.
The E-bAG will incorporate in its objectives the five priority programmatic elements of the Commission of Ecosystem Management. These five objectives of the E-bAG are:
- The Ecosystem Approach - To promote and facilitate the implementation of the Ecosystem Approach in all aquaculture production levels and procedures;
- Ecosystem Services – To identify and to measure the importance (value) of ecosystem services in relation with aquaculture practices.
- Indicators of Ecosystem Status - To develop and apply indicators to measure the changes on the status of ecosystems (vulnerability; risk of species extinction) because of aquaculture related procedures and activities;
- Ecosystem Management Tools – To develop and facilitate the use of Ecosystem Management Tools (e.g., capacity-building, training, coastal zone development) in the recommendations and conclusions the group would come up with;
- Ecosystem Restoration - To establish a capacity of aquaculture to promote Ecosystem Restoration (e.g. species re-stocking) and adaptation to climate change (e.g., protection of shorelines);
For meeting its objectives, E-bAG will develpp several activities such as: reviewing the status of ecosystems of aquaculture sites, identifying and considering ecosystem issues in aquaculture management; promoting better practices and sustainable approaches in ecosystem-based aquaculture management; organizing multidisciplinary dialogues on aquaculture ecosystem issues; exploring positive interactions between aquaculture and natural ecosystem to enhance sustainability of the activity; providing IUCN mechanisms with high level aquaculture expertise; facilitating collaboration and promote synergies amongst IUCN members related with aquaculture development.