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Three fish stations developed in NE
by Elmo Leonard
Three fish receiving stations have been developed in Sri Lanka's north
being Point Pedro, Gurunagar in the island of Kayts, and in Valachcheni in
the east, at a cost of $0.5 million.
For the first time after 20 years of civil war, the fish catch from the
north reaches the Colombo market. The catch made at these points also
extends to Kandy and for exports. The north's lucrative fishing grounds
supplied 50 percent of the Colombo market before civil strife broke out in
1983.
These stations are now equipped with fish boxes, refrigerated trucks,
fishing boats, boat engines, fishing nets and weighing scales. The FAO
project is funded by the GTZ German aid agency, former FAO advisor in Rome,
Henry Gunawardena said. Heightened by a 20-year-lull in fishing, the
island's northern waters are now even more lucrative.
The high continental shelf, here, provides much feed adding to the varied
biodiversity. There are large quantities of pellagric or surface feeders,
bottom fish, troopers and mullet and snappers. In contrast, the waters of
the western and southern coasts of the island carry depleted stocks of
coastal fisheries, according to the latest available FAO reports. |
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