Dy Minister calls for relaxed rules for aqua fish farming

Ridma Dissanayake

The rules and regulations related to aquaculture fish farming are outdated and measures should be taken to change them in an effective manner which will be helpful to develop the local ornamental fish industry, Economic Development Deputy Minister Susantha Punchinilame said.

Several environmentalists have said the ornamental fish industry is a threat to the environment. The Economic Development Ministry, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Ministry, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Department, National Aquaculture Development Authority (NAQDA) and National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) have invited these environmentalists on numerous occasions to have discussions with these two parties. But they have so far ignored these requests and publish articles in the newspapers without a correct understanding about fish breeding methods, he said.

The deputy minister said they think it is the ornamental fish industry which is destroying the local fish resource. "But they do not pay attention to the harm caused by pesticides and other chemicals used for distilling illicit liquor making their way into canals and streams," Punchinilame said.

Addressing a press briefing at the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Ministry, Live Tropical Fish Exporters' Association chairman Sathy Wijayapura said certain environmentalists and environment organisations are blaming Live Tropical Fish Exporters.

"They are pointing their fingers at us as a group charging that we are seeking to relax regulations to export fish and boost our profits. But we are not such a group, we are not a threat to the country's biodiversity,"he said

The law places strict limits against breeding or export of endemic ornamental fish but this has only resulted in individuals smuggling fish out of the country and breeding them in other countries without any returns to us," he said.