News
Puttalam illegal fishing methods decried
View(s):Marine resources in the Northwestern seas off Puttalam are being exploited with the use of illegal fishing methods, while Indian poachers also cause lasting damage, fishing communities say.
Illegal activities are visible from the area beyond Kochchikade and up to Mannar, bordering the Wilpattu National park.
Some 40,000 depend on fishing in the area with some 5,600 boats registered in addition to 3,000 canoes and smaller boats while there are some 600 multi-day trawlers.
Illegal fishing nets are taken midway into the sea and divers then draw the nets over a wide area. The smaller fish are destroyed.
The fishermen in the area claim that fisheries authorities are giving permits for the use of a type of nets of which the name had been changed.
NPP legislator for Puttalam district Ajith Gihan said a ban on nets is being considered.
Pix and text by Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe.
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