Future of Sri Lanka’s oceans

by Sajitha PREMATUNGE

Oceans cover more than 70% of the Earth’s surface. And what could be a more fitting theme than ‘One ocean, one climate, one future’. Oceans affect the whole world’s climate and sustain numerous aquatic ecosystems, regulate temperature and wind cycles. The global or world ocean as they call it - an interconnection of oceans - provide food, protection for coastal lines, acts as an abundant source of non living resources of energy and trade, recreation and culture. Unfortunately man’s actions are exerting increasing pressure on the earth’s oceans.

The case is no different in Sri Lanka. In a programme for the World Oceans Day, Karunadasa Haputantri, Chairman, National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency said: “Our future as an island nation lies on understanding and utilizing the ocean.” Sri Lanka has a sea territory of up to 200 nautical miles from the coast covering 522,800 sq km which is eight times its land area. This is referred to as EEZ or the Exclusive Economic Zone, in which Sri Lanka can exploit all living and non-living resources.

However after submitting geological and scientific data pertaining to claims for an extended continental margin beyond the 200 nautical miles EEZ to the UN Commission on the limits of the Continental shelf this may soon change! Sri Lanka is eligible to claim the benefits of an extended continental margin exceeding the normal cut off point of 350 Nautical Miles applicable to countries coming under the normal rule. But the submission of this claim - initiated by the DEOCOM (Delimitation of the Outer Edge of the Continental Margin of Sri Lanka under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) - is only half the battle. The whole process will take several years.

After the tsunami, significant changes in the sea bed, such as increase in of occurrence of earthquakes as well as marine disasters such as cyclones, tornados, storm surges, fish kills have been observed. Therefore, chairman Karunadasa Haputantri stressed the importance of understanding the evolution of geographical plates, which is a basement for marine disasters like the tsunami, understanding changes and movements of sea bed and subsoil which has direct influence to the water column and its behaviours and also to living resources potential and changes of sea bed and sub bottom due to changes of coastal line.

The Chairman also stated that it is necessary to extend research into areas such as deep sea operational oceanography, deep sea observational oceanography, satellite oceanography, deep sea and atmospheric interactions studies, deep sea geological oceanography, deep sea geophysical oceanography etc... “Unfortunately none of the State organizations has any comprehensive programme on those lines.”

“We also require not only an Ocean Policy as well as a National Plan for ocean development” said the Chairman. He strongly believes that through such a plan highly significant activities which were neglected or not identified could be developed.

Such areas include promotion of ecologically sustainable marine based industries, rising sea levels and moving shorelines, rise in sea-level and its affects on ecosystems, breaking waves and shifting sands, projecting coastal flooding, cross-shore sandbar or sand deposit migration, near shore canyon experiment; studies of El Nino; forecasting droughts and rainfalls upon physical changes of the ocean; investigating sea floor’s dynamic processes through mapping the seafloor with satellites, wireless technology aids, earthquake studies; natural disasters; natural resources and life in extreme environments, changes in the function of the ocean as a sink for atmospheric CO2 and how it could impact climate; marine biotechnology and biomedicine; marine microbes and marine pharmaceuticals; cleaning up pollutants by using bacteria; deep sea non mineral explorations and marine archaeology.

Further in line with the theme of this year’s Oceans Day, he explained that the people of Sri Lanka for the past couple of decades experienced significant changes of climate and whether patterns. These phenomena affect the country’s main income generating sources in many ways and also occupations and life styles of the significant percentage of people. The areas in question are agriculture, plantations, fisheries etc.

He further explained that global warming and rise in sea level resulted by it, could have serious adverse effects on a country, which could in turn result in loss of land; drinking water, due to salt water intrusion. But the major problem arises when these phenomena affect industries such as fisheries, tourism, urban development, which is represented by 9% of the total population. This could have serious implications on the economy.

“The island is located in a unique geographical location in the Indian Ocean and a better understanding of surrounding meto-oceanic parameters and high potential of non living and mineral resources including petroleum for economic development is a paramount fact” said the Chairman.

He also said that the time has come now to re-orient our national policies giving ocean development its due place. “Unfortunately, though Sri Lanka is an island we lack an ocean policy.” He explained that is in order to overcome age old economic problems.