MSSRF’s Fisher Friend mobile app all set for Kerala roll-out

After positive response from fishermen communities in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, the Fisher Friend Mobile Application (FFMA), developed by the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) in partnership with Qualcomm was all set to for roll out along the Kerala coast this month. 

The MSSRF, in its monthly E-newsletter, copies of which were made available to UNI here today, said the mobile application, customized for fishing families, supports lives and livelihood of these communities with relevant information. The Pilot launch of the Malayalam form was held at Vizhinjam in Trivandrum District on December 21st year in the presence of fisheries stakeholders and fishing communities in the district. 

Around 10 master trainers from five villages, who received the mobile handsets during the pilot launch of the Malayalam version, extended their support to provide crucial feed back to MSSRF for fine tuning. Dr Velvizhi, Programme Coordinator MSSRF, demonstrated the benefits and impacts of FFMA programme among the fisher communities in coastal states. 

The android-based mobile application provides crucial information and knowledge needs, including Ocean State Forecasting (OSF), Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ), market and GPS, Weather and government schemes for appropriate decision making had been earlier developed in English, Tamil and Telugu versions.

It received encouraging response from fishing communities and government stakeholders after implementation in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry, as a result of which MSSRF was also requested to expand the services of this app, customizing it for other coastal states. The official launch of the FFMA Malayalam app is expected to take place in Kerala this month.