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Sri Lanka fish exports banned from US under Marine Mammal Protection Act
View(s):By S Rubatheesan
Sri Lankan fisheries exports will be prohibited from entering the United States (US) from January 1 onwards since the government failed to ensure steps are taken for conservation of marine mammals as per the US legislation of Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), a US agency announced.
According to the report of Comparability Finding Determinations For Harvesting nations, published by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of US, four fisheries have been found to be not comparable to American fisheries in terms of meeting the requirements for fisheries under the MMPA.
Fisheries that are not recommended for Comparability finding by the US agency are: Bigeye tuna, blue swimming crabs, mud crabs, three-spot crabs and other crabs that were harvested using gillnets, entangling nets, pots and traps.
Four Sri Lankan fisheries – two gillnet fisheries, one beach seine fishery and crab fisheries were given a negative Comparability Finding resulting that those seafood or seafood products can not be exported to the US after January 1 next year.
Secretary to the Ministry of Fisheries Dr B K Kolita Kamal Jinadasa told the Sunday Times that the Ministry had looked into the concerns raised by the US agency and submitted a report on the steps that are taken to reverse the decision to deny entry of Sri Lankan fisheries exports to the US.
Recently sea dugong, a marine mammal, was falsely reported to be found dead in Sri Lanka coastal area in social media platforms whereas the incident was reported in India.
“The animal is very shy and lives on the sea grass. Following investigations launched by the Ministry, we found that it was misleading news based on the incident which occurred in India. We have submitted technical details such as wind speed, sea weather data etc on that particular incident as well,” the Secretary stressed.
Along with the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA), the Faculty of Fisheries is also directed to undertake studies on the mammal population and potential impact caused by fishing activities in our waters, Dr Jinadasa said.
As the main export destinations for Sri Lankan yellowfin tuna to the US, Sri Lankan fisheries exports to the US were recorded as USD 21.25 million last year.
Sri Lanka is among 28 nations that are denied comparability findings for some fisheries by the US agency.
According to NOAA, the decision to impose ban on Sri Lanka was taken due “to the use of high-risk gear with demonstrated levels of high bycatch, inadequate reporting of bycatch, and a lack of mitigation measures that have or are likely to reduce high levels of marine mammal bycatch for stocks interacting with the export fisheries. ”
In its application, Sri Lanka provided records of reported bycatch for its drift gillnet fisheries operating in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ and on the high seas.
The US agency said that the” bycatch numbers are not reflective of the high levels of bycatch reported in primary literature and indicate a significant level of underreporting”.
Sri Lanka also reported that it implements mitigation measures including a reduction in net length, safe handling/release practices, no setting when marine mammals are sighted in the area, fishermen education programs, captain or crew training, and marine mammal identification guides.
“Bycatch in these fisheries has been a significant issue for decades and the mitigation measures have not proven sufficient to reduce the high levels of bycatch. Given the well-established bycatch in this fishery, use of a high-risk gear type, and lack of effective reporting and mitigation measures, the drift gillnet fisheries are not comparable nor are Sri Lanka’s three other fisheries that utilize gillnets,” the report observed.
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