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Govt. cancels fishing licences of eight Chinese companies
The Government has cancelled fishing licences given to eight Chinese companies to fish in international waters under the Sri Lankan flag, after they were found to have violated the agreements, Fisheries Minister Joseph Michael Perera said yesterday. ”The main reason was that they have violated the terms and conditions we have agreed upon in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by both parties,” the Minister said.
He said the Chinese companies had failed to provide information to the ministry about the catch and types of fishing methods they were using, thereby violating the agreement. The move came as Sri Lanka was taking steps to convince the European Union that adequate steps were being taken to avoid Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing methods. This is intended to get the ban imposed on fish exports from Sri Lanka to EU markets lifted.
The EU had raised concerns about illegal fishing carried out by vessels operating under the Sri Lankan flag. According to the MoU signed by Sri Lanka with these companies, the vessels were required to provide ten per cent of the catch to the Ceylon Fisheries Corporation (CFC) with the rest exported to China. ”The operating procedures of these Chinese ships are questionable. We had to cancel the agreements since we came to know that they have engaged in other illegal activities in international waters while sailing under the Sri Lankan flag,” the Minister said.
Under former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government Sri Lanka introduced eight high capacity vessels built and owned by Chinese companies. The 45-metre-commercial ships had the capacity to catch 300 metric tonnes of fish per trip. After series of warnings and grace periods given to the Sri Lankan government the EU imposed the ban on Sri Lankan fisheries products from January 14 this year, A EU team is due to arrive in Sri Lanka to review the steps taken to prevent IUU fishing practices.
Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Ajith Perera said the Government was on the right path in fulfilling the EU recommendations to get the ban lifted.
“Last week, parliament passed an amendment which provides for an effective fining system for illegal fishing in international waters. We have started fixing Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) to the boats going to the high seas,” the deputy minister said.