A new facility which aims to support research and learning for students keen on joining the aquaculture industry here was launched at Republic Polytechnic (RP) on Thursday.

The new Aquaculture Centre called 'The Aquaria' is the first of its kind at a local polytechnic and complements the launch of RP's new Diploma in Marine Science and Aquaculture programme, which aims to take in its first cohort of 50 students this year.

The course is the first-of-its-kind to be launched across tertiary institutions and will focus on aquaculture technology, marine biology and conservation.

Speaking at the launch event, guest of honour Dr Maliki Osman, Minister of State for National Development, said that the new centre and diploma course will help to develop the industry's manpower capabilities.

"We should aim towards attracting and nurturing more younger Singaporeans to join the sector. It is important to develop the manpower capability to help transform the industry and attract higher productivity," he added.

The industry hopes to increase the local production of food fish to 15 per cent. Currently, 6 per cent or 3,200 tonnes of total fish consumption in Singapore is produced locally. The rest is imported.

The centre, which measures 180 sq m comprising indoor and outdoor facilities, will undertake projects including fish feed formulation and horseshoe crab and coral conservation. At the event, three memorandums of understanding were signed with various organisations in the aquaculture and marine conservation sector. One of them is Resorts World Sentosa's Marine Life Park, which will provide scholarships and collaborative projects on marine conservation for students.