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| Sunday, 23 October 2005 |
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Makeshift boats crack up at sea by Elmo Leonard There are shocking experiences of fishing craft built in Sri Lanka cracking up at sea due to inadequate thickness of the hull, FAO says. These fishing craft have been built at mushrooming boat-yards, following the Asian tsunami of December last. "The safety standards for fishing boat construction and operation must be improved and applied to safeguard lives of Sri Lankan fishers," FAO naval architect, Stefano Thermes said. The situation is critical, for Sri Lanka is reputed for its high standard and efficiency in producing fibreglass boats of different types. This reputation comes from a few boat-yards that build to international standard and export fishing craft to USA, Europe and Asian countries, in addition to luxury boats to the First World. The level of technical competence of these makeshift boat-yards in designing and construction of FRP - Fibreglass Reinforced Plastic hulls at most of these boat-yards are unacceptably low, the FAO says. Sri Lanka's damage to the fishing fleet following the tsunami has now been put down to approximately $36 million. FAO is assisting the Ministry of Fisheries to improve the quality of production of Sri Lankan boat-yards through naval architect Stefano Thermes. The expert boat designer has set out to identify suitable institutional arrangements and expertise approval of designs and specifications and for monitoring and quality control during the construction of the boats. On such lines, the FAO is working with the Fisheries Ministry. FAO also intends mobilising funds for training of boat-yard personnel in the design and construction of fishing boats, FAO's emergency and rehabilitation coordinator in Sri Lanka, Mona Chaya said. Meanwhile, Craig Williams, of Architects Without Boarders said that it is necessary to implement appropriate minimum design standards, operational standards and safety standards for the construction, operation and safety of any water craft; human safety being of grave concern. Sri Lanka's national economy has been significantly affected with the loss to the tsunami of around 76 per cent of Sri Lanka's fishing craft. The fishing community in particular, also suffered from loss of protein by way of seafood harvest, Williams said. Another effect of the tsunami was the resulting damage to vast areas of the marine ecosystem, imperilling many fisheries. Williams said that several individuals in a variety of capacities within the Sri Lanka government, in the international scientific community (marine ecologists/biologists) and the World Wildlife Foundation had indicated that a careful consideration of the impact of the fisheries and human activity should be considered in the scope of recovery of the region's fishing fleet, fishery based economies, and natural ecosystems upon which these economies derive their substance. For fisher-folk to sustain themselves economically, there is a great deal of pressure to fish as extensively and intensely as possible. The term "fishing it to death" has been experienced throughout the global marine ecosystem. Statistics in Sri Lanka indicate that the fisheries surrounding the island must be carefully analysed for the sustainability of fishing activities with respect to a recovering marine ecosystem. Even if safe vessels are made, it makes no sense to fish into extinction
on an already imperilled fisheries ecology, Williams said. |
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