NGOs provoking fishermen, says Minister

Chamikara Weerasinghe

Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Felix Perera yesterday said certain NGOs with sinister agendas were unduly provoking local fishermen to protest against the Government.

He said there was no real reason for the fishermen to go as far as to shout and demonstrate slogans before the Fisheries Ministry in Colombo demanding their rights and protection of livelihood since the Ministry had taken many steps to ensure sustainability of their trade under the Action Plan of the Mahinda Chinthana.

The Minister said, under the Action Plan, the fisheries sector will be developed with priority placed on the small fisherman to improve his profitability and reach a higher level.

Minister Perera was speaking at a press conference at the Fisheries Ministry, Colombo, held to explain the situation of foreign trawlers entering into Sri Lankan territorial waters for fishing and the unrest caused thereof to local fishermen.

The fishermen led by the National Fisheries Solidarity and the All Island Fisheries Federation have complained that they were not getting a fair price from Fish Export Companies because of the exporters were purchasing the catch from these trawlers at a lesser price.

As pointed out by the Minister, the drop in fish prices was mainly due to the heavy saturation of fish during this particular season of the year.

The fish enter into warm Asian seas during this time because of the cold weather in Europe.

The prices of certain fish types have also dropped because these countries stop buying them during this time of the season, he explained.

The Fisheries Ministry has bought fish from local fishermen during this period due to which fish prices have plummeted. "For example we bought Hurulla fish from them at Rs. 100 when the price was Rs.30 and thereby ensured a better price for them," Perera said.

The NGOs that provoke the fishermen against the Government do so because they want some issue to highlight.

"None of these organisations have helped fishermen to rise from their current stand of being small fishermen. They have only helped them to remain small fishermen," the Minister said. "This is exactly what we try to change with the fishery sector development plan under the Mahinda Chinthana," he said.

"Our envisaged programme is to modernise the fisheries sector with modern methods to improve fish quality so that fishermen will be able to demand high prices for their fish," he said.

"If we were to have a sustainable fisheries industry we will have to compete with countries like Maldives and India, which use modern processing methods," he Minister said.

"These methods are now being introduced to the fishermen. This involves training programmes," he said.

Perera said the Ministry helps fishermen identify fish-rich areas in the sea with the help of Satellites so that they can go directly to these areas and engage in fishing without having to burn diesel roaming about the sea looking for fish.

"We have taken steps to grant loans upto Rs. 2.5 million to buy multi-day boats to benefit the small fishermen and the industry," he said.

"We have also taken steps to deploy Coast Guards to arrest any foreign trawlers poaching in Sri Lanka's demarcated Exclusive Economic Zone," Perera added.

The Deputy Minister of Fisheries Neomal Perera, Ministry Secretary G. Piyasena Director General of the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources S.W. Pathirana, and representatives of Fish Exporters' Association were present.