Three new fisheries harbours soon

by Mohammed Naalir

The Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Ministry will set up three new fisheries harbours at suitable locations, a top ranked officer of the Ministry said.

He said the construction of Kurunakar and Mailadi fisheries harbours are in progress, the sources said.

The fisheries harbours would be set up based on the requirements of the fishermen in the area. The Government will set up the harbours at the proposed site following a thorough study by experts,

The officer said construction will take place without any damage being caused to the beach and the environment protected.

He noted that the country's fish harvest in 2009 was 339,730 metric tonnes. Plans are afoot to increase this quantity to 400,000 metric tonnes by the end of this year.

He predicted that the fish harvest in the North and the East coast would increase 43 percent by 2013. The deep sea and beach fish harvest would increase 194 percent.

Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Rajitha Senaratne is planning training programs to improve the technical knowledge of fishermen.

Fishermen would also be despatched to places where ample fish resources are available. The assistance of NARA will be utilised to identify such places.

A signal system is also to be introduced to prevent the entry of illegal, unreported and unregistered fishing vessels into our waters, implementing a Vessel Monitoring System, he said.