Financial Times

Dire warning concerning over-fishing
Slow suicide by fisher communities
By Dilshani Samaraweera
Fisheries experts say Sri Lanka’s fisher communities are hurting themselves because of lack of respect for the law. Disregard for laws that ensure sustainable coastal fishing and protection of ocean eco-systems is leading to depletion of coastal resources – ironically the biggest culprits are also the biggest victims.

Breaking all the rules to kill immature fish, destroy coral reefs and using destructive fishing methods is threatening the sustainability of Sri Lanka’s fishing industry and its dependents.

“There will come a day when our fishermen won’t have enough fish to catch if this continues,” said Director General of the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, G Piyasena.

“The problem is, although we have so many laws and regulations, our fishermen don’t observe them,” he said. “Ultimately, the biggest losers will be the fishermen themselves because they are already poor and when the catch reduces, their incomes will drop further. Also the supply of protein to the rest of the country will drop,” Mr Piyasena continued.

In their haste to make a living, poor fisher folk are doing what the old woman in Aesop’s fable did – killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. Local fishermen, like the old woman, are destroying their source of sustenance - the coastal fish stocks.

“There are laws against dynamiting fish, breaking coral reefs and to ensure sustainable fishing. But our fishermen won’t comply with these,” Fisheries Consultant, Fish and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, Leslie Joseph said.

“For instance, there is a ban on fishing undersized lobsters and lobsters bearing eggs. This is to allow them to mature and spawn, for the stock to be replenished. But because lobsters bring in a good price people sell even the smaller ones and the egg bearing ones,” Mr Joseph said.

Another example is in sardine fishing. Sardines are now caught using nets with mesh sizes of less than one inch, compared to mesh sizes of over one inch 20 years ago. This again means younger, smaller fish are harvested, reducing replenishment of the stock.

Coral reefs also are being continually destroyed for lime production and also in the process of lobster fishing. The worry here in all of this is the potential extent of this damage.

The marine fishing trade is estimated to employ over 150,000 people as just fishermen, but not the thousands of others indirectly employed. These people and their families are directly dependent on the ocean’s bounty. A majority of these fishermen fall within the low-to-moderate income categories, earning only around Rs 30,000 to Rs 63,000 per year.

“So the danger is, that a very large number of people will be very badly affected, if coastal ocean resources are depleted,” explained Mr. Joseph.

Not unlimited
The belief that the large expanse of ocean means large stocks of fish is a myth, the experts say. “Because we are surrounded by sea, people think there are a lot of resources, but due to some natural limitations, this is not the case,” Mr Joseph said.

To begin with Sri Lanka has a narrow continental shelf – the shallow strip of ocean that is rich in food to sustain ocean life forms. “The wider the continental shelf, the greater the stocks, but Sri Lanka has a narrow continental shelf,” he added.

The nutrient rich deep waters cannot mix with upper waters because of another natural phenomenon called “thermoclines”, a temperature barrier which prevails throughout the year. Both these natural factors translate into less food for fish and as a result limits the size of fish stocks in Sri Lanka’s coast.

Tsunami over-fishing
Because of these natural limitations and also because of signs of over-fishing, even before the tsunami, fisheries authorities are convinced that more tsunami aid in the form of motor boats that target coastal resources was a bad move.
“We have requested donors not to encourage the building of any more small boats. These boats are outboard motor powered,” said Director General of the Department of Fisheries, G Piyasena.

“This is because we feel there is already an over supply of about 4,000 to 5,000 of these small boats that are used mainly for coastal fishing. Since coastal resources are limited, if the numbers of boats increase at this rate, fishing will increase and deplete the resources even faster,” he said.

However, despite the over supply, there are still reports of genuine fishermen not receiving replacement boats. So, to maintain the balance, the Department of Fisheries is planning to buy back the excess boats and redistribute them.
“Although there is an excess supply, these have not been distributed equally. So we hope to buy them back and distribute them more equally among the districts,” he said. The Fisheries Department is also still asking for deep-sea vessels, like multi-bay boats and three-and-a-half tonne boats. “There is a shortage numbering 400–500 here,” Mr Piyasena added.

Respect your food
The Department of Fisheries is now trying to raise awareness among fisheries stakeholders about the need to respect the laws that ensure sustainable fishing.

“We are trying to get fishing community participation in enforcing the laws. District officers and fisheries officials are trying to educate people by explaining these things,” said Director General of the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, G Piyasena.

But the Department says it is an uphill battle especially with its own resources depleted by the tsunami. “It has been difficult to enforce regulations because our resources are inadequate,” Mr Piyasena said. “To monitor the coast we need coastguards, speed boats and other equipment. The tsunami destroyed five out of the six coastguard vessels we had and they have not been replaced yet.”

However building awareness among people in the country about the need to protect and manage the ocean’s resources is the best way to ensure it can happen.

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