There are around 600 Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) vessels in Sri Lankan waters at any one time. These are responsible for the country losing significant amounts in terms of fish and nutritional resources as well as revenues otherwise earned by the issuing of fishing licences, transshipment and landing fees, earnings from fish processing earnings, foreign currency and even employment, according to international fisheries and maritime security expert John Church.
Mr. Church's comments were made at the recently held public lecture, titled "Protecting and Safeguarding Sri Lanka's Oceans for the Benefit of Present and Future Generations," which was organised by the Kadirgamar Institute, Colombo.
When pressed by an audience member to put a value on the loss to the country from IUU vessels, Mr. Church estimated that losses incurred from bypassed shipping licences for Japanese tuna fishing vessels alone was between US$ 30 million and US$ 50 million.
Mr. Church also indicated that Sri Lanka had 2.4 million people, including family members, relying on fishing for an income. He also noted that the country had sovereign rights to a large and valuable economic exclusion zone of over 500,000 square kilometres, while also elaborating that this zone stretched 200 nautical miles beyond the land mass of the island.
He also signalled that, at the rate overfishing was occurring, the ocean could become just mud and water in as little as 20 years. Also, he commented that the Sri Lanka's fish stocks were being similarly exhausted. Further, he suggested that 20% to 25% of the coastal zone be designated as a marine reserve to prevent complete depletion, further opining that fish stocks, if left alone for a while, would replenish more quickly than agriculture, timber, etc.
Responsible for setting up Fisheries Management Protection Programme (FMPP) propositions for Sri Lanka, Mr. Church also advocated putting in place domestic Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS), Monitor, Control and Surveillance (MCS) systems and a FMPP - a need which was first identified 14 years ago. He also added that, while the investment for these systems would be substantial, the lack of them would be much greater due to the long term loss of marine resources.
He also revealed that, according to a recent report, there were over 17,000 IUU vessels in Sri Lankan waters over a 5-month period. He further suggested that, with the effective implementation of VMS, CMS and FMPP systems, illegal activities could almost completely be halted in as a little as two years.
He also noted the example of France where, after courts kept fining and releasing vessels, laws were amended so that the government could confiscate the vessels of repeat offenders, and this significantly impacted on illegal marine activities. |
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