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Chances galore to develop fishing industry - Rajitha

Ample opportunities have been created to develop the fishing industry with the liberation of the Northern and Eastern districts from the LTTE, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Dr Rajitha Senaratne said.

He was speaking at the distribution of IT equipment and motor cycles among the officers of the Assistant Directors of Fisheries under the CIDA-FAO funded project on 'Restoration and Improvement of Fish Landing Centres with Stakeholder Participation in Management' at the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Ministry last week.

The Minister said the Department is responsible not only to regulate the fisheries sector, but also to support the fishing community in all 15 Fisheries Districts including those in the North to develop their capacity to improve their living standards.

"Our national policy on fisheries development and management stresses on empowerment of community through their organizations to engage in self management of facilities in fish landing centres. Provision has been made under the fisheries regulations to extend it to manage the fisheries resources following co-management principles," Dr Senarathne said.

The Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources has expanded its operations in all 15 fisheries districts through Assistant Director's Offices including Fisheries Inspector's Divisional Offices, he said.

The provision of facilities to improve and strengthen their mobility and communication systems by making available motor cycles and IT equipment including Internet and e-mail facilities will enhance effectiveness in their operational efficiency, the Minister said.

The Accelerated resettlement program initiated by the government has helped the fishing population as IDPs to resume their livelihood smoothly facilitated by the local administration and security forces, he said.

"The project will provide assistance to rebuild the damaged small fish landing centres in these areas as it covers all 15 Fisheries Districts. There were small scale fisheries being operated by over 37,000 small FRP boats and non-mechanized craft located in over 1,000 fish landing centres in Sri Lanka which contributed around 50 percent to the production," Dr. Senaratne said.

The balance is being produced by 3,700 multi-day boats and one day in-board engined boats operated through fishery harbours and anchorages. These statistics suggest that there is a strong justification to support development of common facilities in the small fish landing centres at relatively smaller investment. This would in turn create additional employment opportunities in the small scale fishery sector, he said.

Emphasis should be to reduce on-board and post harvest losses in fish products while improving fish quality that will contribute towards provision of a quality nutritional product to our consumers. Facilities should therefore cater to the needs of the fishing community operating at small fish landing centres that will reduce waste generation while building capacity to face increased competition in the market, the Minister said.

Major outputs of the project in North Western and Eastern fisheries districts are expected to be realized towards the end of the year. However, development of common facilities at targeted fish landing centres in the Southern fisheries districts will have to be initiated shortly, he said.

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