A maiden plunge
Lanka’s first-ever Faculty of Marine Sciences
opens at Ruhuna University this week
November 8 will be a significant day not only for
the University of
Ruhuna but also for the whole university system in Sri Lanka,
when the first-ever Faculty of Fisheries & Marine Sciences &
Technology is ceremonially inaugurated.
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Facilities for studies on histopathology of
fish |
The first batch of 60 undergraduates will commence
the B.Sc. Degree programme in Fisheries & Marine Sciences on
November 9.
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Conducting reserach on Bulath Hapaya |
This is the first step towards the establishment
of a higher education institute for fisheries & marine sciences
& technology, within the higher education system in Sri Lanka.
“Although Sri Lanka is an island in the Indian Ocean, not
much emphasis had been given in the past, for the development of
primary, secondary and tertiary education in the fields of fisheries
and marine sciences. Not much scientific explorations of the sea
and about its living and non-living resources, have been launched
in the past by Sri Lankans, due to the lack of well-equipped research
institutes and qualified scientists with formal training to handle
important marine research,” said the first Dean of the Faculty
of Fisheries & Marine Sciences & Technology, Prof. Ruchira
Cumaranatunga.
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Training programme in diving |
The University of Ruhuna was able to introduce
this much needed Faculty of Fisheries & Marine Sciences &
Technology, to the university system primarily due to the farsighted
vision and the mission of its pioneers and due to the hard-work
of the dedicated staff of the Dept. of Fisheries Biology, with the
fullest cooperation of Vice Chancellor, Professor Ranjith Senaratne,”
she explained.
The location of the University of Ruhuna, facing the Indian Ocean
and its close proximity to the two fishery harbours, Dondra and
Mirissa, also supported this mission. The faculty, although established
with effect from January 1, 2005, through a gazette notification
in October 2005 under then President Chandrika Kumaratunga, could
not commence its activities until certain basic requirements were
acquired.
The Dean commended the efforts of many towards
the establishment of the faculty, particularly Professor Sena S.
De Silva, who was the first Professor of Zoology, “who took
great pains to introduce Fisheries Sciences to the zoology curriculum
at the University of Ruhuna. It is not wrong to consider him as
the Father of Fisheries Sciences at University of Ruhuna”.
The dream of establishing a Faculty for Fisheries
& Marine Sciences & Technology, would not have become a
reality, if not for the financial assistance given through Coastal
Ecology and Marine Sciences Programmes of the SIDA/SAREC of Sweden,
Prof. Cumaranatunga explained.
The Faculty has three Departments – Fisheries
& Aquaculture, Oceanography & Marine Geology and Limnology.
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