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| Sunday, 18 September 2005 |
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BIMSTEC survey of fisheries resources in Bay of Bengal by Elmo Leonard Sri Lanka will be among seven BIMSTEC member nations (within the Bay of Bengal) who will in March 2006 commence a survey of fisheries resources within the Bay. The study will also include the highly commercially valuable straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks such as tuna species, bill fish and shark. The survey would initially cover two-months. This decision was taken in Bangkok early-September when fisheries experts from BIMSTEC nations met. The data will enable the fishermen of the member states, Bangladesh, India, Mayanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, (Bhutan and Nepal are land-locked countries) to plan out fishing expeditions and sustain such fisheries resources. The meeting in Bangkok was attended by A. Hettiarachchi, director general (development) of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and Dr Champa Amarasiri, head, Department of Marine Biology, National Aquatic Resources Development Agency. Thailand, the leading nation among the BIMSTEC bloc will provide the research vessel, MV Seafdec, 1,178 tonnes and 65 metres long, which belongs to the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Centre and meet the funds for the survey. The survey will also include oceanographic data. Two scientists from each member nation including Sri Lankan scientists will take part in the cruise within international waters in the Bay of Bengal. In addition to remote sensing technology, common fishing gear as longlining purse-seeing and gill-netting will also be used. The survey will be carried out in international waters of the Bay of Bengal, but member nations will be free to extend the survey to include their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) Hettiarachchi said. BIMSTEC now stands for Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectorial Scientific and Economic Cooperation. The member nations share information in agriculture, fisheries, tourism, transport, communication, science and technology. BIMSTEC will in the future study the impact on marine resources in the Bay of Bengal from offshore oil and gas drilling, marine stock assessment and management and development of new fisheries in the Bay of Bengal. The last two projects were proposed by Bangladesh. As a prelude, all
member nations are expected to access existing data pertaining to these
fields and submit it to Bangladesh, through Thailand, the leading fisheries
nation among the BIMSTEC bloc, Hettiarachchi said. |
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