“The operations also led to the seizure of 3 dinghies and unauthorized fishing gear employed for these illegal acts,” it said in a statement.

“The Sri Lanka Navy remains vigilant and conducts operations to combat illegal fishing in its sea and coastal areas, with a view to supporting legal fishing activities.”

The fishermen were engaging in light-coarse fishing and using unauthorized fishing nets.

They were intercepted by the SLNS Gotabaya and SLNS Walagamba of the Eastern Naval Command.

The individuals were identified as residents of Mullaitivu, Kuchchaveli and Poduwakattu, aged between 21 to 53 years.

The fishermen, dinghies and unauthorized fishing gear were handed over to the Assistant Directorate of Fisheries – Mullaitivu, and the Fisheries Inspector of Trincomalee for legal action, the Navy said. (Colombo/May18/2024)

The funds will establish four community-operated mini hatcheries in Batticaloa, Mullaitivu, Anuradhapura and Monaragala districts.

The money will also upgrade four NAQDA Aquaculture Development Centres and one community-operated mini fish breeding centre to increase breeding and rearing capacity, enhance fingerling stocks in selected reservoirs, develop broodstock for breeding units and promote cage culture for seed rearing among fisher communities.

“Recent financial challenges have left the fisheries sector deprived of necessary resources, exacerbating hardships among inland fishing communities and rural populations. This project is a pivotal step towards revitalizing the sector,” Douglas Devananda, Minister of Fisheries said.

The one-year project will provide 3 live fish transportation trucks to NAQDA to transport fingerlings, integrate digital technology to inland fisheries, and enhance the technical capacities of officers and fishers in the production, management, processing and value addition of inland fisheries.

“Japan and Sri Lanka, both island nations, share a deep-rooted appreciation for the importance of fisheries in our economies and cultures. Japan is committed to strengthening Sri Lanka’s fisheries sector,” Ambassador Mizukoshi said.

The project will support around 3,000 inland fishers, 40 farmers engaged in mini hatchery operations, and 20 farmers specializing in fish feed preparation. (Colombo/Apr25/2024)

“The 15 Sri Lankan fishermen taken into custody last December by Myanmar authorities sentenced to 07 years rigorous imprisonment, granted a general amnesty,” the Minister said on X (twitter).

Today marks the first day of the traditional Burmese new year’s day, during which the junta government released more than 3,000 prisoners, according to CGTN, a Chinese state-run English news channel.

It reports that among the released, 3,303 were Myanmar nationals, 36 “foreigners”, 13 Indonesians and 15 Sri Lankans.

Sri Lanka had previously petitioned the Myanmar government for clemency on behalf of the detained Sri Lankan fishermen.

Last week, 8 Sri Lankan cyber slaves who were imprisoned in Myanmar were received in Thailand, upon pardon by the junta government. The 8 people were found in Myawaddy, where they were held captive and forced into committing cybercrimes. (Colombo/April17/2024)

“The local fisherman’s catch from the seas around Sri Lanka does not meet even 5 percent of our domestic requirement for thalapath,” De Silva told reporters on Tuesday.

“In such a situation, the Fisheries Corporation will import sailfish (thalapath) and other fish varieties such as sprats, dried fish (karawala), marlin (koppara) as required, to meet local demand.”

De Silva said the aim was to supply good quality fish at a good price to consumers without negatively impacting local fisherman.

“We will be importing fish from Singapore, through the Ceylon Fisheries Corporation,” De Silva said. “This is necessary to meet the consumption needs, especially from hospitals.”

SriLankans need state permission to import some foods. The country has a heavy economic nationalist ideology, partly driven by monetary instability (to save foreign exchange). (Colombo/Mar13/2024)

“Younger people in the Mahaweli zones have shown a high tendency to engage in agricultural activities with smart technology. By developing the necessary facilities for this, the income of Mahaweli farmers can be increased by 200 percent,” Minister of Irrigation, Wildlife and Forest Conservation Pavithra Wanniarachchi was quoted as saying in a statement by the Department of Government Information.

Wanniarachchi said that she had asked the ADB for financial support and expert knowledge to do this, at a meeting with senior officials of the Mahaweli Authority on Wednesday (14).

The ADB funds will be disbursed through the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka under its Water Security Investment Program, which has introduced a work plan on how the money will be spent, according to the statement.

The Authority would allocate 4 million dollars for improving milk production levels and 2.5 million dollars for cultivation of food crops using smart technology such as polytunnel and drip irrigation systems, and 1.5 million dollars will be used for poultry farming and freshwater fisheries.

“There are 12,940 dairy farmers in Mahaweli regions, and the amount of liquid milk produced last year was 54.8 million litres. This is expected to increase to 70 million litres.” The major setbacks to milk production were the inadequate feed for livestock, since pasture lands were increasingly limited, and the shortage of healthy calves, due to scarce facilities for breeding, the statement quoted officials as saying.

Egg production is also targeted to increase with the investment from the 62 million eggs recorded last year, to 100 million eggs projected to be produced this year.

The minister pointed out that developing agriculture and farming activities using modern technology would address Sri Lanka’s food insecurity concerns and possibly lead to exports of surplus. (Colombo/Feb15/2004)

“There is a high probability of pollutants being added in the traditional dry fish processing. More salt is used in the process. But for the first time, there is no space for even a little dust or a fly to enter in the production process, which is being done using air condition dehydration systems,” Minister Mahinda Amaraweera was quoted as saying in a statement by the Government Department of Information.

“With this method, we can present dried fish products that is very suitable for human consumption to the market. This will give us the foreign exchange that the country needs.”

In the traditional production method, fish is dried on the beach in the sun. In the new method, the fish, usually a type of tuna, is dried, or processed, using ‘air condition dehydration’.

As this method retains the fish oils, the quality of dried fish produced is of a higher level, Amaraweera said.

Amaraweera pointed out this dehydration method can be used for several other products in the country.

The export of the first container of 10,000 kg of dried fish and fish chips using the new technology was done recently (14) by Megafish, a company in Pahajjawa.

This is the first time that dried fish and fish chips produced in Sri Lanka will be exported to Australia and Korea. (Colombo/Jan16/2024)

Devananda instructed the Director General of the Fisheries Department Susantha Kahawatta to stop the importation of canned fish at a meeting held with Canned Fish Producers Association representatives at the Ministry of Fisheries Thursday (11), according to a Government Information Department statement.

The Canned Fish Producers Association had claimed people are not buying their products due to imports.

They had claimed that the price of imported tinned fish has decreased, and due to VAT and cess imposed by the government, they are unable to provide their products at the price of imported tinned fish, so they have to close their factories.

Like dairy products and building materials, imported tinned fish is already taxed to give high profits or ‘rents’ to some canned fish producers.

Sri Lanka usually promotes non-competitive rent-seeking import substitution business at the expense of consumers, to ‘save foreign exchange’.

Minister Devananda has asked the Secretary of the Ministry to take measures to levy an additional tax on imported canned fish.

Taxing imports and harming consumers to reduce competition is an ideology that is followed both by Mercantilists (so-called crony capitalists) and nationalists, with the Dutch East India Company and Hitler’s Germany (Nazi Autarky), being key examples.

Minister Devananda has asked the Secretary of the Ministry to take measures to levy an additional tax on imported canned fish.

Taxing imports or controlling imports to harm innocent consumers by reducing competition is an ideology that was followed both by Mercantilists (so-called crony capitalists) and nationalists, with the Dutch and British East India Companies and Hitlers Germany (Nazi Autarky), being key examples.

Classical economist Adam Smith warned against proposals by businesses, whom he called dealers, to reduce competition and harm the public.

“The interest of the dealers…in any particular branch of trade or manufactures, is always in some respects different from, and even opposite to, that of the public,” wrote Smith.

“To widen the market and to narrow the competition is always the interest of the dealers.

“To widen the market may frequently be agreeable enough to the interest of the public; but to narrow the competition must always be against it, and can serve only to enable the dealers, by raising their profits above what they naturally would be, to levy, for their own benefit, an absurd tax upon the rest of their fellow-citizens.

“The proposal of any new law or regulation of commerce which comes from this order ought always to be listened to with great precaution, and ought never to be adopted till after having been long and carefully examined, not only with the most scrupulous, but with the most suspicious attention.”

“It comes from an order of men whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public, who have generally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public, and who accordingly have, upon many occasions, both deceived and oppressed it.” (Colombo/Jan12/20024)

“A collaborative approach is taken to seek expert opinions and improve the draft of the new amended Act on Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda said at a briefing at the presidential media centre (PMC) on Wednesday (12).

He also called for support from domestic and foreign private investments to further boost the marine industry.
Devananda highlighted key initiatives aimed at bolstering the fishing community including promoting use of battery motors for fishing boats to reduce production costs.

The Ministry of Fisheries was allocated 8,400 million rupees in the 2024 budget, passed this week.
“Of that 6,077 million rupees is allocated for capital expenditure and 2,323 million rupees for recurrent expenditure.”

“Sri Lanka’s fisherfolk will be equipped with latest technology to conduct their industry efficiently,” Piyal Nishantha de Silva, Minister of State for Fisheries said on Friday (15) announcing an event to be held in conjunction with Fisherman’s Day in Guru Nagar, Jaffna on December 18-19. (Colombo/Dec15/2023)

The SL20 and SL23 fishing boats, measuring 6.3 and 7 meters in length, were designed for coastal fishing operations in Sri Lanka, and adhere to FAO/ILO/IMO standards.

“These boats prioritize the safety of fishers and are built to be capsize-resistant and withstand the challenges posed by climate change, including more frequent and intense storms and cyclones,” the statement read.

The boats were made possible through the funding of the Norwegian Government-financed FAO Trust Fund project on “Responsible use of fisheries and aquaculture resources for sustainable development,” with a cost of approximately 9 million rupees.

In addition, FAO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Fisheries, introduced 30 model fish stalls across 15 fisheries districts in Sri Lanka.

Designed by the Cey-Nor Foundation, these stalls aim to maintain high-quality and safe conditions for fish retail selling.

A recent NARA study revealed inadequate maintenance practices among fish retailers in Sri Lanka.

Outdoor fish stalls often display fish uncovered, without ice, in direct contact with sunlight and environmental hazards.

“The model fish display stalls seek to popularize retail selling stalls among fish retailers to maintain the quality of fish until it reaches the consumer.”

Nalin Munasinghe, Assistant FAO Representative for Programmessaid: “FAO remains dedicated to fostering sustainable practices and supporting local communities in Sri Lanka. The delivery of these boats and stalls exemplifies our commitment to enhancing the resilience of the fisheries sector in the face of climate change challenges.” (Colombo/Dec14/2023)

C188, an international labour standard established by the ILO, sets standards and recommendations aimed at ensuring decent working conditions in the fishing industry.

“Delighted to share our commitment to ratify ILO’s “Work in Fishing Convention (C188). Setting new standards for 500,000 fisheries workers, ensuring decent work, health, and safety, and enhancing international trade,” Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara said.

Draft regulations pertaining to ILO C188 were presented last week to Nanayakkara, Minister of Fisheries Douglas Devananda, State Minister of Fisheries Piyal Nishantha de Silva, Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Paul Stephens, and ILO Country Office Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives Simrin Sigh.

The draft regulations will support the development and submission of a Joint Cabinet paper by the Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment and the Ministry of Fisheries in furthering Sri Lanka’s journey towards ratification, the ILO pointed out in a statement.

“Ratification and compliance of C188 will see substantial benefits in not only improving working conditions, creating additional employment, and facilitating labour retention, but also generating significant economic returns to Sri Lanka by enhancing the sector’s global competitiveness. It also sets the foundation for long term growth and sustainability of the country’s fisheries sector.”

Press Release_International Labour Organisation_Presenting of draft regulations – C188 – Final – English

The fisheries sector contributes to food security, nutrition, trade, employment, and export earnings in Sri Lanka. (Colombo/Dec11/2023)

Ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka Mizukoshi Hideaki, and, secretary, ministry of finance K M M Siriwardana signed the exchange notes, a statement from the embassy said.

The first grant, amounting to JPY 200 million (approximately Rs 435 million), is designated for enhancing the north-east fisheries infrastructure

The second grant of JPY 160 million (approximately Rs 335 million), is an additional grant for the project for the establishment of a doppler weather radar network.

The Rs 435 million will provide Ceylon Fisheries Harbour Corporation with ice production machines and digital scales, the National Aquaculture Development Authority with advanced fishing gear, and the Fisheries and Aquatic

Resources Department with deep freezers and tractors with deep freezers.

“This investment aims to fortify the fisheries industry by expanding freezer facilities and supplying modern equipment, ultimately increasing the value of fisheries production and improving the livelihoods of fishing communities in the Northern and Eastern provinces,” the statement read.

In an effort to enhance Sri Lanka’s short-term weather forecasting capabilities and mitigate the impact of meteorological disasters, the Japanese government has been supporting the establishment of a doppler weather radar network since June 30, 2017.

Due to the current economic crisis, an additional grant has been provided for this project.

Given the increasing severity of Sri Lanka’s weather-related disasters such as heavy rainfall and droughts, the additional grant aid is expected to contribute to the establishment of the doppler weather radar network, furthering efforts to mitigate the impact of meteorological disasters. (Colombo/Nov22/2023)

India has become increasingly concerned over China’s expansion into the Northern province and had convinced Sri Lankan government to cancel three renewable energy projects in the North granted for Beijing, government officials have said.

China has been assisting for sea cucumber farming for Jaffna fishermen, whose livelihood is hit by bottom trawling and encroachment of Indian fishermen.

In his second visit to the North, Ambassador Qi Zhenhong donated food packs, fishing gears, and houses to Northern people, mainly ethnic minority Tamils who are culturally close to South India.

“No matter what kind of challenges and difficulties you face, the Chinese people will firmly stand with you, no matter in the past, now or in the future,” Qi Zhenhong told a public gathering at district secretariat in the former war zone of Jaffa district.

“The Chinese government has a promise to continue to provide support,” he said adding that Beijing has decided to donate each 5 million rupee worth of food packs, fishing gears, and houses for Northern people.

SEA FOOD EXPORT TO CHINA 

China has already started exporting sea cucumber from Jaffna fishermen and the Ambassador promised to buy more from Northern fishermen in the future.

“No Chinese fish export to Sri Lanka, specially to Northern province,” he said referring to sea food imports by Sri Lanka from China

“China is the second largest economy. We have a huge market. We warmly welcome Sri Lanka competitive product exports to China.”

“We have a great potential… Chinese investors, China entrepreneurs have great interest to come to the Northern province. I hope Northern province also warmly welcome China investors and tourists to come to the Northern province.”

Qi Zhenhong’s visit comes two days after Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s official visit to Jaffna.

People in Jaffna said initially there were some hesitations over Chinese ambassador’s visit to the North.

“But he came with food packs and some fishing gears. People need those goods in the current extremely difficult conditions,” a Jaffna based civilian told EconomyNext asking not to be named.

“So, nobody rejected the Chinese ambassador. It would be even possible China winning the minds of Jaffna people though buying their sea food for exports.”

The Chinese Embassy in Colombo separately said three donation ceremonies were held in the three districts of North with each district receiving 500 boxes of dry rations worth 7,500 rupees each ($23) and another Project, 5000 boxes worth 37.5 million rupees will be distributed to the needy in the Northern Province. (Colombo/Nov 6/2023)

Japan will give tractors with deep freezer to the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, ice production machines and  digital scales to the Ceylon Fisheries Harbour Corporation and nets to the National Aquaculture Development Authority.

The cabinet of Ministers have given approval for President Ranil Wickremesinghe to sign the documents.

Japan has given grants for a series of project grants and humanitarian assistance after Sri Lanka defaulted on its foreign debt in 2022. 

Japanese loan projects were halted after the default, as state lending agencies cannot give more debt to distressed countries, under Japanese rules.(Colombo/October25/23)

“The minister of fisheries, Douglas Devananda, proposed to increase the production of the fisheries industry by releasing 500 million fish fry annually and continuously, however this was unsuccessful,” Cabinet spokesperson, Bandula Gunawardena said.

“Now there is a plan to release 100 million fish fry and 50 million juvenile shrimp into the reservoir and the Cabinet has granted approval,” Gunawardena said.

The Cabinet approved the allocation of 100 million rupees for the program.

The freshwater fisheries and aquaculture sector play an important role in Sri Lanka’s rural economy, contributing to food security and nutrition, as well as providing employment opportunities.

Around 500 million fish fry should be continuously released into the reservoirs annually for the production of economically effective fresh water fish with high growth in the reservoirs, Gunawardena said.

But due to insufficient depositing of fish fry, it has not been possible to fully utilize the potential of the existing reservoirs for culture-based fisheries.

For 2023, 230 million fish fry and 80 million shrimp fingerlings were planned to be deposited in the reservoirs.

But the plan had to be changed due to the drying up of reservoirs due to the recent dry weather.

In April, officials from the Meteorological Department confirmed that dry weather conditions would continue until the Southwest Monsoon, with temperatures rising below average in areas such as Anuradhapura, Rathnapura, Jaffna and Vavuniya. (Colombo/Oct3/2023)

Aquaculture, or farming in water, involves breeding, raising, and harvesting fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants.

The Aquatic Product Wholesale Industry Association of the Fujian Province met with Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and expressed their willingness to set up aquaculture processing and export farms near potential coastal ports across the island.

The association agreed to help the government’s programs to develop small fishing ports in Sri Lanka, in exchange for the facilitation of setting up a preliminary farm.

Association Secretary Huang Jincheng expressed the possibility of leveraging up-to-date technology used in Chinese aquaculture farms, here in Sri Lanka, the Department of Government Information said in a statement.

The technology includes modern multi-day fishing vessels and fish processing equipment.

State Minister of Fisheries Piyal Nishantha, MP Anuradha Jayaratne, Zubu Huang of Wuxi Kaushi Foods Company, Xinxing Huang of Beijing Catering Management and Dongsheng Chen of Ocean Times International Company participated in the discussion. (Colombo/Sep13/2023)

The fourth Joint Commision between Sri Lanka and the Maldives will be held in Colombo on June 6 and 7, the Foreign Ministry said.

Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry, will co-chair the Joint Commission with his counterpart Abdulla Shahid.

The meeting will also be opportune for discussions on education, health, employment, youth, sports and skills development, consular and cultural affairs.

On the sidelines of the Joint Commission, several Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) will also be signed, the statement said. (Colombo/June05/2023)

The number of hatcheries has considerably increased over last two decades from three in 2000 to close to 50 by 2023 mainly targeting tourism, industry officials say.

Turtle hatcheries are expected to boost the number of hatching eggs by protecting them from being eaten by natural predators or human consumption and ensuring that they hatch. Hatcheries usually buy eggs from villagers and those who collect them.

Turtle hatchlings are expected immediately swim to the deeper sea as quickly as possible with the remaining energy in their bodies so as the avoid predators and increase their chances of survival.

Keeping them too long in tanks for public viewing may decrease their chances of survival.

Sri Lanka’s wild life is bearing a blind eye on the illegal baby sea-turtle tourism.

“According to the Wild Life rules, hatcheries can keep 20 percent of the babies in the facility for three days before releasing them back to the ocean,” a Coastguard officer asking to be anonymous told EconomyNext.

“There are many facilities in the country who keeps them for an extended period but the authorities are turning a blind eye to the situation.”

Some hatcheries have been in conservation for several decades, originally started by volunteers.

But with hatcheries becoming a tourist attraction so-called ‘commercial hatcheries’ have also come up.

The number of hatcheries has increased from three in 2000 to close to 50 by 2023 according to some estimates.

Increased competition has driven up the price of eggs.

“We buy a sea turtle egg at a price of 30-35 rupees due to the huge demand,” Manager of the Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation Project Dudley Perera told EconomyNext.

“There are some days that we buy sea-turtle eggs for 40-50 rupees as well, due to the competition between the hatcheries the collectors have allocated a marked price for eggs.”

Turtle eggs therefor may be cheaper than chicken eggs.

Perera says purely commercially oriented hatcheries are buying eggs for much higher prices.

“They keep the baby sea-turtles inside tanks for a long time, which is unhealthy method of conservation as it must be sent to its natural habitat (the sea) as soon as it comes out of the shell,” Perera said.

Perera says commercial hatcheries around 1000 from a tourist to release a baby sea turtle to the sea.

“They conduct inhumane tourism activities, especially when foreigners pay a good sum of money to sight the sea turtles being releasing to the sea” Perera claimed.

In Sri Lanka, under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (FFPO, 1938 amended in 1972) it is an offence to capture, kill, injure or possess sea turtles or their eggs.

In Sri Lanka after the central bank printed money to suppress interest rates leading to the collapse of the rupee from 200 to 360 to the US, chicken egg prices have also soared from around 18/22 to about 60 rupees.

Perera says some of the turtle eggs taken by collectors are now being consumed for food. (Colombo/Feb 26/2023)

Fisheries Ministry officials said the move will prevent nearly 20 percent of the post-harvest losses in multi-day fishing boats.

The move comes as the island nation has been looking to export more fish into European markets under the existing lucrative trade concession scheme – GSP+.

The project was launched with international assistance including from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. (Colombo/Jan03/2022)

“See cucumbers are highly prized in China and Korea and a kilogram sells for about 40,000 rupees,” Minister Amaraweera said.

“The cabinet of ministers had cleared a proposal by Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda to release the locations to farmers to set up export villages.”

Initially, 100 acres will be released to export villages in blocks of 1 acre.

If done well about a billion US dollars can be earned a year, he said.

The Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus – an annual trade concession worth over 500 million US dollars – has boosted Sri Lanka’s exports to EU member states. Sri Lanka lost access to GSP Plus in 2010 due to alleged human rights violations but regained it in 2016 after pledging to implement 27 international conventions.

However, Sri Lanka has failed to implement several commitments it had made to the EU and the bloc has warned that the concession could be withdrawn if the island nation fails to implement a few key demands including the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and the release of long detained suspects under the PTA.

“We are fairly confident that the GSP Plus will not be withdrawn immediately because we have provided very credible, genuine answers to the queries made by the EU Commission,” Colombage told a media conference ahead of his visit to face United Nations Human Rights Council sessions starting on Monday (28) in Geneva.

“One of the main focuses of the EU was the PTA. Now we have done the amendment and it is before the parliament. Hopefully, on the 8th or 9th of the next month, it will become the law of the country. So that is the concrete positive step we have taken.”

“They were also very concerned about long term returnees. Eighty-one detainees are already released and we will release more. Because this is all Sri Lankans languishing in a jail somewhere and it is not fair to keep them any longer.”

A loss of GSP+ will be a huge blow to cash-strapped Sri Lanka which is facing an unprecedented economic and debt crisis. The concession has helped Sri Lanka earn more US dollars at a time the island nation cannot borrow from international capital markets due to a series of rating downgrades by global rating agencies.

Foreign Minister G L Peiris has tabled the amendment in parliament though a debate has yet to be scheduled. Though government critics say the move was to hoodwink the international community ahead of the next week UNHRC session and prevent the loss of GSP+, some government officials say the amendment will dilute the power of authorities to detain suspects for a long period.

“So we are confident that we will have the GSP Plus for a while. But it does not mean that we should take it lightly. We have to work very hard. We have to address the concerns and issues so that we will continue to derive the GSP Plus continuously.”

Colampage said the GSP+ has really helped fishermen, garment factories, and farmers more than the government.

“And if it is withdrawn, these will be the worst affected categories,” he said. (Colombo/Feb25/2022)