EXTENSION PERSONNEL AND RESEARCHERS LINKAGE IN MARINE FISHERIES –AN INTROSPECTIVE STUDY

Fisheries research organisation in the country are mostly involved in research activities , and concerned with the development of fisheries in the country. Fisheries extension organizations such as state department of fisheries and other agencies like Brackish Water Fish Farmers Development Agencies, Agency for Development of Aquaculture and MATSYAFED are mainly involved in implementation of schemes for the fishermen and  other extension activities. In spite of the well organised setup in the county for technology transfer the flow of technology between the research and the extension system is very limited and hence this study was conducted  to identify the linkage activities between the research and the extension system in marine fisheries. The study was conducted in the Ernakulam district of Kerala. Data were collected from 40 researchers and 40 extension personnel. Findings indicated that majority of the extension personnel had medium level of linkage with the researchers followed by an equal percentage in low (15.00%) and high category  (15.00%). Out of ten variables only age, and job satisfaction had significant and positive relationship at 5% level of significant and positive relationship at 1% level of significance with the extent of linkage with researchers