President tells Asian political leadership at 5th FAO
confab:
Protect region’s aquaculture
Voices concern on threat posed to small scale
fishermen:
Dharma Sri ABEYRATNE
President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that the commitment of the Asian
political leadership is essential to collectively overcome the
challenges faced by the fisheries and aquaculture industry at present.
President Rajapaksa was delivering the keynote address at the Asian
Regional Ministerial Meeting on Aquaculture for Food Security, Nutrition
and Economic Development yesterday at the Hilton Hotel, Colombo.
The President inaugurated the meeting which, was attended by over 250
representatives from 18 countries. The representatives included key
fisheries policy makers and planners in the South east Asia-Pacific
Region .who will discuss the merits of regional aquaculture and
promotion.
The meeting will conclude today. Fisheries Ministers from major
fishing nations, including Thailand, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh,
Philippines, Laos, China, Australia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam and New
Zealand are participating in the meeting.
Addressing the gathering, President Rajapaksa said that, many policy
initiatives, such as, strong trading standards, removing non-tariff
barriers and eliminating unfair trading practices are imperative for the
welfare of our fishing community. The President elaborated how important
it was to improve our fish production through sustainable methods while
keeping our water resources clean.
“We often read today of how fish is our last wild food and that our
oceans are being picked clean. We learn of factory trawlers that scrape
the ocean floor threatening the livelihoods of fishing communities in
countries and regions. These trawlers are commercial operations while
the small time fisherman go out fishing as a means of day to day living.
This meeting is most timely because the natural habitat of fish is being
gravely threatened and aquaculture development is of special
importance”, he further conceded.
“Methods that can improve sustainability are necessary because their
absence can have adverse effects on small farmers and fishers. These
need to be tackled with speed and great sensitivity before vulnerable
communities that depend on fishing and fish farming are harmed”, he
added.President Rajapaksa also conceded that the human and material
resources required to achieve these “great goals” in fisheries and
aquaculture are easily available.
But the challenge is to put these resources together that are within
different borders and institutions of individual states and
territories,” the President noted. Elaborating on the issue of
compliance with various international trading standards that is a
serious problem faced by developing countries and small scale farmers,
the President stressed the pressing need to address this situation
politically.
He said the best results come when farmers, especially, the small
holders are empowered technologically and politically. “It is when they
have both the means and the voice. With greater awareness and
empowerment, higher standards and good farming practice, they will not
be driven out of business”, he stressed.
The Ministerial Meeting intends to work towards coordinating regional
activities and improving regional cooperation in aquaculture, and thus
contributing to the aquaculture development in the countries in the
Asian region. The meeting will conclude with the signing of what is
called the ‘Colombo Declaration’ which will be the criteria for
development of the aquaculture industry in the South Asian region. The
policy makers will facilitate the Colombo Declaration which will provide
guidelines for initiatives aimed at developing aquaculture industry in
the region. |