From Marawila to Wanathavillu along Sri Lanka's north western coastal belt, prawn farming has become a thriving industry. Large commercial export enterprises as well as several small holders are engaged in this profitable business. During the last decade, hitherto unwanted swampy land by the lagoons acquired enhanced value and now fetches around Rs. 300,000/= per acre.
In the last two to three weeks, prawn farming has suddenly been threatened with a destructive virus SEMBV, causing the 'White Spot Disease'. Many prawn farms in the Chilaw, Puttalam area have been affected by the disease. Prawn farmers who have invested in the industry are worried that the disease could spread to uncontrollable levels.
"It is the first time that we have experienced such a virus", said Lalith de Silva, Manager of a large scale prawn cultivation project at Rajakadaluwa in Chilaw. The White Spot Disease had attacked some prawns in this farm, which occupies 40 acres of land. It has ten units each of which comprises a nursery pond and a grow out pond. They also have eight complete culture ponds.
De Silva explained that the water for the ponds is obtained from the lagoon. It flows by force of gravity into four culture ponds now converted into a reservoir. The water is purified by aeraters as well as barnacles hung in the water to absorb the algae. It then flows into a pump station and a canal takes the water into the ponds. The incoming water is also strained through tubes of nylon mesh.
The baby prawns of Post Larvae of 15 - 25 days are purchased from hatcheries and introduced into the nursery ponds. These ponds have a base area of about 3,000 sq.feet. The prawns are fed four times a day with special feed imported from Thailand. After 2 - 2 1/2 months when the prawns weigh about 20 grams each, they are transferred through anicuts into larger grow out ponds. After the transfer, the nursery pond is drained out. They are thoroughly cleaned before re-use. The process takes a couple of months. The prawns are harvested at 4 - 4 1/2 months when they have grown to about 40 grams each. Lalith says that transferring the half grown prawns in this way reduces the pollution and a constant cycle can be maintained.
"One of our ponds was affected by the disease", said Lalith. "These prawns were about eight grams each. The disease usually attacks at the smaller stages". The affected pond was a large one with a base of 8,000 sq. feet. About 123,000 post larvae had been introduced in to this pond. The prawns were 53 days old when the disease was spotted.
The Manager explained that the prawn feed is scattered over the surface of the pond. A percentage of the feed is placed on mesh trays and lowered into the pond by tying them to wooden ramps erected on the side. The feeding is monitored by inspecting the food on the trays. It had been observed that the consumption in one pond was low. The prawns were also seen at the sides of the pond. "The prawns should not come to the edge during daytime unless something was wrong" commented Lalith. "When we examined them, white spots were seen on the heads". A sample of diseased prawns have been preserved in Formalin.
The affected pond had been immediately closed down. It was chlorinated to destroy the remaining diseased prawns and drained out completely. The dead prawns were collected and buried. The base of the pond is now being cleaned thoroughly. A layer of the earth and mud is also being removed. This pond will not be in use for some time.
According to Lalith de Silva, the virus is always present in the lagoon water. If the farming is done in a proper manner, the possibility of being attacked by the virus is reduced. Water management is important. At this farm, paddle wheels are used to aerate and mix the water. The incoming water is strained and purified in the reservoir. The aeraters are kept on throughout the night as well as for several hours of the day. Especially at night and on gloomy days, the level of oxygen in the water is low. If the aerater is switched off, the prawns are seen at the edges with the mouths open.
The Manager added that they are planning to get on to a method of recycling their own water.
Mr. Nimal Wannigama, a pioneer in the prawn cultivation industry, is an aquaculture consultant to several prawn farms in the area. He says in the Chilaw area about 4,000 hectares of land were being utilised for prawn culture. Of these only about 50% has been approved by the authorities. Approval has to be obtained from the Scoping Committee for Environmental Impact Assessment. To obtain approval, the necessary environmental procedures and water treatment systems have to be followed. However, he says many small scale prawn farmers are not in a position to do this. Thus many prawn farms are functioning without proper planning or water treatment.
According to Mr. Wannigama, the disease causing virus reaches outbreak levels when multiplied in large numbers. The disease has been found to affect prawn farms using water from the Dutch Canal and the Puttalam Lagoon. The Chilaw Lagoon has so far not been affected. Mr. Wannigama says there is a possibility that the virus could have been brought in by the post larvae which were imported. However the import of post larvae has been banned for some time now. This virus has been found in Thailand. In China, the prawn industry collapsed in 1994 as a result of this virus.
Mr. Wannigama says the White Spot Disease virus is spread only through water or a carrier. Carriers are small shrimps and a variety of crab. Water birds could also act as carriers. In order to prevent the virus spreading, the carrier must be prevented from entering the ponds. It has been found that the disease only attacks prawns of the Penaus variety. It does not attack any other form of sea life. In water, the virus can survive only for two days unless it attacks a live prawn. Thus if the incoming water could be kept in a stock tank for two days before entering the ponds, any virus present would be killed. "Prevention is difficult but not impossible", said Mr. Wannigama. "Although we cannot be certain, it appears that the prawns are building up some resistance. It does not seem to be spreading as rapidly as it did in early May".
Mr. Indika Gunawardena, Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources says the Ministry is taking strong action to prevent the spread of this disease. Affected farms have been advised to close down temporarily. The virus cannot survive in dead prawns for more than two days. The farmers could operate their farms the next season. Samples of diseased prawns have been sent to Thailand for investigation. Two Thai experts are in Sri Lanka at present and according to the Minister the experts are of the view that the disease could be controlled within this season. He also stressed that the disease does not present any danger for human consumption of prawns.
Dr. Jayasinghe of the National Aquatic Resources Agency, who is carrying out investigations on this disease says that approximately 70 farms have been affected. These are mostly bordering the Dutch Canal. The quality of the water in the canal is suboptimal. Dr. Jayasinghe says this virus which is new to Sri Lanka has been found in Thailand, China, India and Indonesia. In order to prevent the spread of the disease, treatment of incoming and discharged water is necessary. There is no cure for the disease, only its prevention. Seminars and various programmes are being conducted to educate farmers of the area on measures of preventing and combatting the spread of the disease. The loss of an acre of affected prawn is estimated to be Rs. 200,000 - 300,000 in operational costs. With hygienic methods of cultivation and proper pond management this could be avoided.
On the full moonday of Poson hundreds of years ago, Arahat Mahinda alighted on the mist-wrapped peak of Mihintale to spread the Buddha Dhamma fulfilling the wishes of his father, King Dharmashoka of India.
From then on, Lanka became a Dharmadveepa, with thousands upon thousands of people flocking to listen to the Dhamma. Within eight months there was said to have been sixty-four thousand Arahats on this island.
Many centuries later, Sri Lanka has stepped from the sublime to the ridiculous. To refer to contemporary society as 'Buddhist' is a mockery, evern a profanity. Shrouded in lust and avarice, throttled by envy, vice and corruption, soiled by blood and murder, we yet have the audacity to call ourselves a Buddhist country. But nobody has the answer to the question, "Is there Buddhism in this country?"
In truth, there is a totally distorted view of Buddhism among Sri Lankan Buddhists today. So much so that one could say ritualism has replaced Buddhism.
This is a national tragedy, for the country has invested so much time, effort and money for the cause of Buddhism. There are temples, yards from each other, and Buddhist organisations galore. There is state patronage to Buddhism in the form of the Buddha Sasana Ministry and the national economy is making a massive sacrifice with the granting of the Poya holiday each month.
With such effort, people should be getting closer to the Dhamma by the day. But reality is disillusioning. Sri Lankan Buddhists are getting further and further away from the Buddha word and they are not even aware of it.
Disillusionment with what Buddhism has become in this country today has spilled over to the younger generation which is distancing itself from the religion for they find ritualism hypocritical and irrelevant to their lives.
This is why one never finds young men and women attending dhamma desanas and dhamma discussions. Young men and women are hardly seen in white garb at the temple on Poyd days investing time in observing sil. They think it is a waste of time heaping flowers before a Budha statue, uttering stanzas they do not know the meanings of and gossiping or snoozing the day away, which is what, generally happens when old women congregate at temples to observe sil on Poya day.
What has gone wrong is that people are so immersed in ritualism, that they have learnt to equate Buddhism with that, and they couldn't be more wrong, and they could not insult the Buddha more than what they are doing now.
The word Buddha means 'the Awakened One'. He awoke to the fact that all human beings born on this earth have a problem, which is what he tried to teach us. The Buddha termed this universal problem 'Dukka' which has been rather inaccurately translated into Englisn as 'Suffering'. It would be more relevant to term it 'unsatisfactoriness'.
Life as we know it is never perfect, nothing happens the way we would want it to happen, which annoys, frustrates and makes us less than happy. Even if we are deleriously happy over some sensuous pleasure, there is always a shadow over that pleasure for we are aware it will end soon. At the other end of the spectrum, there is naked suffering in the struggle of life.
Birth, old age, sickness and death are suffering, but the influence of sensuality is so strong we tend to forget the pain we have gone through. Yet sensual pleasure itself is preceded and follwed by pain.
There are people who misunderstand the Buddha's teaching as a depressing, negative philosophy. Yet the truth is we are all seeking happiness for ourselves and for others. Jack Kornfield in 'Living Buddhist Masters' says:
"When we look in an honest way it becomes clear that most of the means we have used to find happiness and security are unsatisfactory - in fact they lead us to suffer, grasping, clinging, desire - trying to sustain happiness and security in the constantly changing world of sight, sounds, tastes, smell, touch and mind objects doesn't work. It only frustrates and stirs up the mind, brings invevitable dissatisfaction."
This is why so many Westerners who have reached the extreme of sensual pleasure discarded it all as meaningless to follow the Truth of the Buddha's word.
The truth the Buddha realised under the Bodhi tree on Vesak day is embodied in the Four Noble Truths - that there is suffering in the world, that there is a cause of suffering which is craving that there is a way to rid oneself of suffering and the path to follow which is the Noble Eightfold Path.
The focus of the Buddha's teaching is 'impermanence,' something that most of us are unable to grasp at the core. Even at the moment of passing away, the Buddha's last words were: "Decay and impermanence are inherent in all compound things." Superficially we all are aware that things and people change and do not remain the same always. But to understand impermanence as the Buddha meant us to, we need to develop awareness of impermanence as an ever-changing process within our own selves.
Awareness is basically to know what is happening when it is heppening. Awareness has its roots firmly implemented in the present. I can't be aware of what took place in the past or what will happen in the future. I can only he aware of what is happening now.
In everyday life, all of us have some degree of mindfulness. The person who has no mindfulness at all is insane. But our mindfulness is interspersed with long intervals of forgetfulness. Also, our mindfulness is directed towards the external world.
Mindfulness as the Buddha taught is directed inwards, towards one's own self. The Buddha said: "The world is mind made." He showed that the mind perdominates everything and is the forerunner of all evil and good, and that man needs to control his mind to perceive the Truth. This is also why, today, inspite of all that science has achieved in the field of materialism, people are not happy.
Man today has mastery over matter but he cannot control his mind.
We are all deluded by the concept of "I" followed by "My" and "Mine". We desire things which grow into craving and we become slaves to our own senses, devoting the energies of mind and body to keep pace with our never ending needs.
But, the body we are so anxious to please is unsatisfactory, is uncomfortable. We may relax in our most comfortable position in the most luxurious setting. But we cannot maintain that position for very long. When we shift, if we ask ourselves why we are shifting, we will realise we want to be comfortable. This means what we considered bliss earlier had become unfomfortable.
The mind is no different. If the mind was at ease, we could let it rest upon one experience. But we know how difficult it is to keep the mind on one object. It is restless, moving from one thing to another at astonishing speed. The mind too is seeking satisfaction and not achieving it.
When dissatisfaction comes to the fore, there will be frustration, disappointment, illwill, anger, hatred, enmity and war. And all this, because we are ignorant of the real nature of things and are deluded by an ego which is really a mirage.
It is only mindfulness, being aware, that helps us understand the folly of seeking permanent things, relationships in a world where everything is changing every moment, and it is only awareness which will help us understand what the Buddha said.
The Buddha has spoken of four foundations of mindfulness or 'Sathara Sathipattana' - body feelings, Mind and Dharma, of which the body is generally the easiest for a layman to concentrate upon.
The Buddha said the human body is composed of 'kalapas' or sub-atomic units which are dying as they arise. Therefore, the human body is not a fixed entity as it seems to be but a continum of compounded matter with life force co-existing.
But we need to aware of what is happening to us at all times to develop the insight necessary to understand the concept of impermanence and how we are deluded by an ago which is non-existent.
These are the things people ought to practise on Poya days, to realise the relevance of the Dhamma to their daily lives. It is only then that people will udnerstand the need for self-awareness at all times, in their every waking moment. For, when you become aware of every sensation that occurs, you slowly learn to dissociate craving and aversion from those sensations. You only become aware of the sensation.
If people are taught what the Buddha really said, they will understand the Buddha's teaching is for the here and now as well and not only for the hereafter. The very fact that awareness calms the mind is essential for these stressfilled times where people are rushing from one task to another like mad dogs, from dawn to dusk.
If they would take a few moments and expend some energy on awareness of what goes on within their own selves, they will realise they need to seek out the Truth of the Buddha's word without delay, and to wait for old age to learn the Dhamma is the greatest mistake they could make.
The Buddha tried to show us we could be calm and content like a lotus flower in a pond, untouched and unaffected by the mud of craving and aversion of a deluded world. The tragedy is that we are content to grovel in the mud and are unwilling to see the lotus.
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