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Fishermen say industry is drowning but fisheries chief denies charges
Fishermen blocked the Chilaw-Colombo main road and several other routes this week demanding that they be given some relief to overcome problems arising from fuel and ice price hikes. They also protested against the Fisheries Ministry’s decision to grant licences to 30 vessels belonging to a single private company to fish in the seas around Sri Lanka — but the Fisheries Director General denied these charges.
Some of these vessels are berthed at the Dikowita fisheries harbour and are reportedly crewed by foreign nationals, according to a multi-day fishing vessel owner. “They fly the Sri Lanka flag but are crewed by Bangladeshi, Chinese and Taiwanese fishermen,” he claimed. “We cannot compete with these larger vessels and we don’t know what will happen to our fishing community?”
The protests this week also came against the backdrop of well-documented and large scale illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in Sri Lanka’s waters by Indian vessels.
Dodanduwa Fishermen’s Association member G.N. Ravindra said the authorities were just not doing enough to support and promote the local fisher community.
According to him, they have around 1,600 deep sea fishing vessels with licences to fish in international waters. He expressed concern about foreign crews on Sri Lankan flagged vessels and said the legal aspects of such an operation warranted a probe.
The technological gap between foreign vessels and local fishermen’s vessels posed a significant challenge, he said.
“These vessels have the technology to find, catch, freeze and hold more tonnage,” said Herman Kumara of the National Fisheries Solidarity Movement.
These foreign vessels are predominantly larger in size and capacity and are fitted with modern navigational equipment and coolers to store fish. They could bring in larger volumes and keep fish fresh with less wastage, he said.
Mr. Kumara said there was competition in the seas around Sri Lanka for yellow fin tuna, tuna and swordfish. Much of the catch is exported to the European Union, which last year lifted a ban on Sri Lankan sea food exports after placing strict regulations for compliance.
He said the domestic fisheries industry was in danger and they called for stricter regulation to prevent Sri Lankan companies from purchasing fish from foreign vessels.
He claimed that the fisheries Department lacked an effective monitoring and compliance control mechanism to ensure the terms of licences issued were not abused.
The Fisheries Department has rejected these claims. “No foreign fishing vessels are allowed to unload their catch in Sri Lankan ports,” Fisheries Director General Prasanna Ginige said.
He said the vessels which had applied for licences for high seas fishing — in waters beyond the Sri Lankan Exclusive Economic Zone — were bought and registered in Sri Lanka by a local company.
Only a few such vessels had arrived in the country and carried Sri Lankan flag because they were owned by a Sri Lankan company. He refused to reveal the names of the companies, but said many Sri Lankan companies operated foreign-built vessels. According to the terms of their licences, at least half the crew on each vessel must be Sri Lankan nationals, the director general added in response to allegations regarding foreign crew members.
The fisheries chief said that, at present, Sri Lanka was not delivering the full capacity of fisheries products it could export or use domestically. Some of the country’s 73 fish processing plants were running below capacity. The existing fleet of multi-day fishing vessels was outdated and unsuitable for high sea operations.
“We need to move towards larger, safer, more modern vessels like the 55-foot class,” Mr. Ginige said. According to him, in 2016, the Government began a 55-ft vessel initiative to introduce large modern boats employing the long-line fishing method and with better cold room storage facilities to reduce wastage and increase quality. Up to Rs 17 million is offered to fishermen investing in building the newer class of vessel.
“At present, the Navy and Coastguard have to respond many times a month to rescue and tow back the smaller fishing vessels which break down at sea more often,” he pointed out.
The Navy and Coast Guard are duty bound to protect lives at sea under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. However, the cost of frequently towing vessels back to port from the expanse of the Indian Ocean was high and, at times, the journey costs more than the value of the fishing vessel itself, Mr. Ginige claimed.
The DG said all licensed vessel were equipped with a vessel monitoring system (VMS) and often had a Department observer on board to check compliance with rules and regulations. The Government has invested large sums to equip local vessels with VMS and improve their communications and safety. He was responding to criticism about the inadequacies of the licence monitoring and compliance framework.
But some in the fishing community see the licensing of these vessels as a move by a single company to gain a large share of the export market. “Will what happened to the smaller vendors when supermarkets started spreading like mushrooms, happen to us fishermen?” one fishing vessel owner asked.