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Satellite links for 3,000 Lankan fishing vessels
The Government is to spend more than Rs. 1.3 billion to provide satellite communications to 3,000 fishing vessels operating in Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) after threats of sanctions by the European Union, the largest buyer of Sri Lanka’s fish. This is by providing each of them with a transponder worth Rs, 420,420 and it will link the vessels to a shore-based Vessel Monitoring System (VMS). The EU wants to prevent Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing through a monitoring system.
According to Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Rajitha Senaratne, there is no system at present to monitor fishing vessels in international waters. Sri Lanka’s major fish buyer, the European Union, he has told his colleagues, has repeatedly urged the introduction of a VMS. He has warned that sanctions in the form of restricted fish imports could be imposed. In addition, he has noted that the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), of which Sri Lanka is a member, has also stressed the need for it. Originally the project was to be implemented with a loan from a Denmark-based bank. However, the External Resources Division (ERD), which examined the terms, has told the Treasury’s Department of National Budget that its terms and conditions were not acceptable. Hence, the Department had said it would have no objections to the Ministry using allocated funds.
The ministry wants to provide a grant of Rs. 375,000 to each boat owner in lieu of the existing fuel subsidy and to treat the balance amount as a ‘soft loan’. Such loans are to be given by the Bank of Ceylon under the Diyawara Diriya loan scheme. The ministry hopes to initially install transponders on 1,000 boats and ensure that 2,000 more are issued before the end of next year. The ministry wants to use Rs. 26.6 million initially from its budgetary allocations for the current year to carry out the task. It will come under the Director General of Fisheries.