News
Only our smaller craft caught for breaking rules: Fisheries Minister
Drawing reference to the Sunday Times news item on September 28 under the headline ‘Chinese craft break fishing rules; Lanka faces EU ban’ Fisheries Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne’s Media Secretary Daya Sri Narendra Rajapakse has said that the article is misleading.
He said that Dr. Senaratne has said that ‘To date none of the large vessels referred in the article were reported for illegal fishing. The ones getting caught for illegal fishing in far away countries such as Diego Garcia are our smaller vessels’.
“The vessels referred in the article are operating in international waters with the permission of Indian Ocean Tuna Commission of UN. The vessels are operated by a Sri Lankan Board of Investment (BOI) company. Thus the whole operation is legal under both national and international maritime law”.
Reporters Note: The EU this week has issued a Red Card on Sri Lanka and warned that a ban on Sri Lanka’s fish exports to EU countries will be effected in three months.
One of the concerns of the EU is that vessels under the Sri Lanka flag were involved in Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing practices. It is irrelevant whether it is large vessels or small vessels it is a violation of EU requirements. EU sources confirm that large vessels too were involved in IUU practices.
The Fisheries Ministry needs to hurriedly rush its evidence to the European Commission to prevent Sri Lanka losing about Rs. 12 billion annually.