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NARA identifies places for trawling amid protests from fishermen
Despite the ban, hundreds of locally-owned mechanised trawlers still use bottom-trawling, prompting the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) to recommend specific sea areas for such purposes.
The NARA move came in the wake of protests by local fishermen who say their livelihood is threatened by both Indian and Sri Lanka trawlers which use the illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing method.
NARA Chairman A. Navaratnerajah told the Sunday Times that following disputes between fishermen using traditional methods and those using mechanised trawlers, NARA was instructed to identify special sea areas for trawling.
In 2017, the bottom trawling practice was banned in Sri Lanka with the passage of an amendment to the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act.
The law makes it illegal to either fish from, operate, or own a boat engaged in bottom trawling. The offence carries a fine of Rs 50,000 and up to two years of imprisonment.
Foreign fishing vessels found to be engaged in bottom trawling in Sri Lanka’s waters face fines ranging from Rs 1 million to 100 million. The law also makes illegal the import of bottom trawling equipment.
The NARA chief said that after commissioning a field study by experts, the agency had identified four sea regions in the country’s territorial waters for trawling practices. The identified places include Delft in Jaffna for some 300 trawlers from Gurunagar, Pesalai in Mannar, Negombo, and Kendela in Wattala where a significant number of local trawlers operate.
Prof Navaratnerajah said some forms of trawling were allowed as they were less destructive compared to the bottom trawling practised by Indian fishermen whose mechanised trawlers wipe out the sea bed with all the rich marine resources.
Recently, a group of Vadmarachchi fishermen met NARA officials and urged them to allocate a dedicated sea region for trawling after local fishermen organised a strong protest. A NARA team is scheduled to visit the identified regions in the coming weeks.
But the NARA move has drawn criticism from the Federation of Rural Fishermen Communities in Vadama-rachchi. Its president Nagarasa Varnakulasingham said, “If every group demands a dedicated sea region to carry out their fishing method which is banned in Sri Lanka, where can we go.”
He said the NARA decision would affect the livelihood of thousands of fisher families who were facing enormous difficulties due to IUU fishing by Indian fishermen.
He said several nets which fishermen had purchased through bank loans had been destroyed in recent weeks by Indian trawlers in the northern sea.