Hiralal Chaudhuri

After passing his MSc, he started teaching in the department of biology at Murari Chand College, Sylhet, but lost his job during the Partition of India, along with five of his colleagues. He then migrated to India and joined the Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (then known as the Manirampur Central Fisheries Station) near Barrackpore on 1 June 1948 as a junior research assistant. As well as working at the organisation's headquarters, he also researched at the CIFRI regional center at Cuttack, Orissa. In Cuttack CIFRI center he served as junior research assistant from 1948–50, senior research assistant from 1950–55, fishery extension officer from 1959–60, was in charge of fish breeding from 1960–63 and became the officer-in-charge in 1964. He then worked in the Fish Culture Division of Bhubaneswar from 1971–75 (present day Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture).^[5] He served as a director of CIFRI several times, and held various posts until his retirement in 1993. From 1967–76, he worked as a Fishery Advisor at the Food and Agricultural Organization/United Nations Development Programme (FAO/UNDP) in Myanmar. After taking voluntary retirement from active government service, he joined the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) and served as a deputy director there from 1975–79. During 1988–93 he served as a visiting professor at UPLB in the Philippines.^[6][7]

While in the center of Barrackpore, he noticed that oval-shaped transparent eggs came out as soon as he pressed the belly of fish floating in the tidal waters on the banks of the Ganges. After a few hours in a container, he saw the transmission of life. This phenomenon attracted Chaudhuri to think about the induced reproductive process in Carp. After nine years of research on fish endocrinology and physiology as a senior research assistant at Cuttack Fisheries Laboratory, on 10 July 1956,^[6] he succeeded in the induced breeding of carp species, which is considered to be one of the first basic works in zoology. He further continued his research on riverine Catfish to breed by injecting pituitary hormone. He also improved the hypophysation technique on Puntius sarana, Cirrhinus mrigala, Labeo rohita, and other Indian carp. In 1958 Chaudhuri was the first person to successfully hybridise carps by crossing major and minor carps of the genera Labeo, Cirrhinus, and Catla.^[5] He also elaborated on the twelve new hybrids of the carp species, insect infestations in ponds and their remedies, and the methods of pond rearing in a scientific manner. At this time, different countries of the world, including Myanmar (then Burma), Lao PDR, Fiji, Sudan, Malaysia, and the Philippines sought his skills for successful fish breeding programs.^[8]

• Chandrakala Hora Memorial Gold Medal, 1960^[9]
• Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award
• Gamma Sigma Delta Award
• Golden Key Award of the Auburn University, USA
• World Aquaculture Award, 1994^[10]
• Asiatic Society Award, 6 May 2002
• Honorary D.Sc by Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai
• Chair in Fisheries in the name of Hiralal Chaudhuri by University of Calcutta^[1]
• In 2001 Indian Government announced 10 July as the National Fish Farmers Day to honor Prof. Chaudhuri.^[2]

Hiralal Chaudhuri was honoured as the "Father of induced breeding" of the Carp and is also considered the pioneer of the global Blue revolution.^[11] In September 1994, A conference on Applications of Endocrinology to Pacific Rim Aquaculture was organised in his honor at the Bodega Merin Laboratory, University of California.^[4]