A new horizon for North, East fishermen

In an interview with the Daily News Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Felix Perera speaks about the Government’s proposed plans to develop the fisheries industry in the North and development taken place in the fisheries and aquatic resources sectors under the Mahinda Chintana.

Uditha Kumarasinghe

Q: Fish production in the North is expected to increase with the lifting of fishing restrictions in the North. The ban imposed on outboard motors of vessels has also been lifted by the Government. What are your comments?

A: Nearly two third of the Sri Lankan coast line is in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. In order to ensure safety and security of the people, the fishing activities in these areas had been restricted during the past few decades. But soon after the Northern Province was liberated,on the intervention of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Senior Presidential Advisor MP Basil Rajapaksa these restrictions were lifted.

This would facilitate the fishermen to resume their industry and improve their living conditions. In addition, the Government has also lifted the ban imposed on the outboard motors of vessels.

Permission has been granted to fishermen to use 15 horse power outboard engines for their fishing vessels. The Government is exploring possibilities of granting permission to fishermen to use 25 horse power outboard engines in the near future.

Q: What are the steps taken to increase the national fish production?

A: Nearly 40 percent of the country’s fish production came from the North and East. The contribution of Jaffna district alone was around 26 percent. Therefore, lifting of fishing restrictions in the North and East would enable us to obtain nearly 40 percent of fish production from these two provinces. This would help develop the country’s fisheries industry to the status of the era before the war broke out.

Q: Has the Ministry formulated a special program to develop the fisheries industry in the North under the Uthuru Vasanthaya program?

A: The Ministry has formulated plans to increase the fish production in the North. The Northern coastal belt spreads upto 480Km and 219 Fisheries Societies have been established in the province. In addition, there are 54 major and medium scale tanks and 1,500 small scale lakes in the North. In 1983,the total fish harvest of the Northern Province stood at 48,000 metric tons annually.

This dropped to 2,300 metric tons last year due to terrorism. Nearly 45,145 fishermen in the North from Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Mannar and Vavuniya districts are displaced due to the war.

Under the Uthuru Vasanthaya program, plans have been drawn to uplift the socio-economic conditions of Northern fishermen affected by terrorist activities. Initiatives will also be taken to re-establish the institutional framework required to develop the fisheries and aquatic resources in the North.

In order to develop the fisheries industry in the North, the Ministry intends to distribute three million free hatchlings among the fishermen to increase the fish production to over 1,000 metric tons in six months.

This fish production will be used for consumption of the people in the North once they are resettled in these areas.

The Ministry has also formulated a 180 day accelerated development program to rebuild the fisheries industry in the North. Rs.2,050 million will be spent on the long term and mid term activities of this development plan.

Q: What are the programs implemented to improve product quality, fisheries research and development?

A: To develop the aquatic resources sector, a Fish Health Laboratory has been established at a cost of Rs.60 million. This is attached to the Peradeniya University to provide services related to diagnosis and prevention of fish diseases.

A national Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Training Institute has been set up at Kalawewa with the objective of facilitating the expansion of the inland fisheries and aquaculture industry. A Tissue Culture Laboratory has also been established at Rambodagalla to support the expansion of ornamental aquatic plant exports. Steps have also been taken to increase the number of breeding centres.

In addition, the Water Quality Monitoring and Shrimp Disease Diagnostic Laboratory has been established at Battuluoya to provide services for shrimp farming and brackish water fish farming.

NARA is also producing maps using satellite technology to facilitate deep sea fisheries to identify fishing grounds.

Q: What are the measures taken to increase employment opportunities in the fisheries and related industries and to improve the socio-economic status of the fishermen?

A: The Ministry has provided the opportunity to export fish as a value added product. The Ministry, just like the apparel industry, has planned to import fish from foreign countries and do its value addition here and export them.

A special factory will be established in Galle for this purpose in collaboration with China. This will also help carry out the value addition to our fish varieties which have a higher demand in Sri Lanka by providing a concessionary price for the catch of our local fishermen.

The NARA also provides guidelines enabling fishermen to release quality fish to the international market. Arrangements have also been made to set up a canned fish factory in Galle,generating nearly 1,100 employment opportunities.

In addition, the Socio-economic and Marketing Research Division of NARA conducts scientific research on socio-economic affairs of the fisheries sector.

In 2008, divisional research went into a new dimension in reviewing the potential of eco- tourism associated with aquatic resources.

Q: What are the steps the Ministry has taken to increase foreign exchange earned from the export of fish products?

A: Sri Lankan fish exports earn nearly USD 100 million annually. All fisheries exports have to comply with international quality standards. Therefore a program has been designed to provide certification services for fish and seafood to improve the quality of the products in the export market. The Ministry also provides instructions and assistance to the factories to produce fish to EU standards.

NARA has taken measures to identify the potential fishing grounds using satellite technology and guide fishermen. This technology allows us to increase the fish production with minimal operational cost.

Sri Lanka has earned Rs.15,155 million by exporting 16,537 metric tons of fish and fish products last year. The foreign exchange earnings from fish exports have gone upto USD 200 million.

Q: Can you comment on the progress achieved by the 10 year development policy framework of the fisheries and aquatic resources sector (2007-2016)?

A: Under this 10 year development plan, fisheries and aquatic resources sectors are being developed rapidly.

The Central Bank and the business community have accepted that the fisheries sector has achieved considerable progress even without conducting fishing activities in nearly two third of the sea area in the North and East.

Compared with previous years, the export of fish products has recorded 100 percent increase. For example, one particular investor pays Rs.500 million for air freight alone to export fish by air.

Therefore,the Ministry has taken every possible measure to reach the set targets under this 10 year development plan.

Q: What are the steps taken to minimize post-harvest losses and improve quality and safety of products to acceptable standards?

A: The Ministry has taken initiatives to improve the quality of water and ice used in the fisheries industry in Sri Lanka to minimize post harvest quality losses of fish. A project has been designed to study the quality of water and ice used in the fishery industry in Sri Lanka. A guideline for ice plants is being prepared with the assistance of the Health Ministry. This project is funded by the Icelandic International Development Agency (ICEIDA).

Q: What kind of relief measures have been provided to the tsunami affected fishermen to rebuild their industries?

A: Nearly 50,000 fishermen were affected while 5,000 fishermen died in the tsunami. Nearly 80 percent of the fisheries industry and 85 percent of fishing vessels were completely destroyed, reducing the total fish production to 5,000 metric tons. Of the 12 fishery harbours, 10 were completely destroyed. As pledged in Mahinda Chinthana, the Government has re-constructed and modernized all 10 harbours destroyed with all infrastructure facilities.

The Government has also rehabilitated all the anchorages destroyed by the tsunami. The Government in collaboration with various NGOs has provided boats destroyed by the tsunami and other infrastructure facilities to the fishermen to rebuild their industry. Compared to other tsunami affected countries in the region, Sri Lanka was the country which recovered much early.

Therefore, this is a great achievement as some countries have been unable to completely recover still. The Government will also rebuild the fisheries industry destroyed by terrorism. Therefore, I state that Sri Lanka has attained considerable progress in the South Asian Region in sustainable utilization of fisheries and aquatic resources.