Inland fisheries industry - a new wave in development

By Lionel WIJESIRI

Fish are often an important ingredient in the diet of people who live in close proximity to water bodies. People have traditionally depended on various indigenous fish species, easily available from nearby water bodies, as a source of nutrition.

It is said that a large number of the 84 species of freshwater fish found in Sri Lanka is familiar only to the local population. These species are better known to the rural population due to the importance the people attach to them as a vital and affordable source of nutrition.

Inland fish production makes a significant contribution to animal protein supplies in many of Sri Lanka’s rural areas. In some regions, freshwater fish represent an essential, often irreplaceable source of high quality and cheap animal protein crucial to the balance of diets in marginally food secure communities.

In Sri Lanka, most inland fish produce is consumed locally, marketed domestically and often contributes to the subsistence and livelihood of poor people. The degree of participation, including a significant number of women and children, in fishing and fish farming can be high in some rural communities, and fish production often is undertaken in addition to agricultural or other activities.

Challenges

Like all other food producing sectors, the inland fisheries industry too is facing problems of environmental degradation and increasing land and water scarcity. The agricultural sector, as a whole, is facing increasing competition for water resources from industrialisation and urbanisation, and from growing requirements for safe drinking water supplies.

These issues are particularly critical, given their high dependence on agriculture for food and income generation. In future, the demand by, and competition among various sectors for water – in terms of quantity and quality - will increase significantly, and politically difficult decisions on allocation and pricing of water uses, pollution control and other measures would have to be taken to avoid an imminent water crisis.

Degradation

Industrialisation, urbanisation, deforestation and agricultural land and water uses often cause degradation of aquatic environments, which is the greatest threat to inland fish production. Fishery resources are being affected by destruction and fragmentation of aquatic habitats, aquatic pollution due to release of industrial and urban effluents and run-off of agro-chemicals, soil erosion and manipulation of hydrological characteristics of rivers, lakes and flood plains.

There is increasing awareness about the urgent need to protect living aquatic resources in inland waters, and the focus of attention includes the requirement for conservation and sustainable use of aquatic genetic resources. To address threats to freshwater biodiversity, increasing national efforts are needed.

Insufficient recognition

One of the main impediments to increasing inland fish production is that fishery/aquaculture administrators find it difficult to defend the interests of their sector.

An inland fisherman spreads his net

Decisions over developments affecting fisheries, aquaculture and aquatic environments are often made with no consideration of these sectors, basically for lack of trustworthy economic assessments of present value in the case of inland fisheries and for lack of projections of potential value in the case of aquaculture and enhanced inland fisheries.

Most policy makers in other sectors are not aware of the importance of inland fish production for food supplies and income generation. This sector is often not properly represented or empowered within existing institutional frameworks.

Most inland fish producers suffer from the inadequacy of:

* Defined rights of their specific practices;
* Institutional support, whether public or private.

This results in difficulties in obtaining credit, accessing information and attracting efforts of capacity-building including training and extension, in addition to low investments into the sector. Given the lack of organisational power, the interests and needs of fish producers are often neglected or ignored, particularly at local levels.

These challenges cannot be addressed by fishery stakeholders alone, particularly since many of the problems are generated outside the fisheries sector. Integration, especially better coordination of planning and management of resources shared by fisheries and other users, is required to facilitate sustainable inland fish production. Fishery administrators and stakeholders should seek opportunities to participate in the formulation and implementation of integration measures.

Society

It is against this backdrop that the writer believes that a strengthened Inland Fisheries Society must be formed with the following objectives:

* Provide a forum for people working in freshwater fisheries and aquaculture to exchange views about the role of small indigenous species of freshwater fish in enhancing rural food and livelihood security and in conserving biodiversity;

* Discuss the socio-economic and cultural context for culture and capture of freshwater fish to enhance access, especially of women, to better income, livelihood and nutritional security; and

* Propose developing policy space for sustainable use of small indigenous freshwater fish species in fisheries and aquaculture.

Growth

In 2010, Sri Lanka’s inland fisheries production was over 52,000 tons and increased to 59,500 tons in 2011. It is about 14 percent of the country’s annual production.

Our target should be to reach up to 20 percent in the next five years. For a country with 300,000 hectares of inland water reservoirs, 160,000 hectares of lagoons and 103 rivers, it is not a difficult assignment.

The participation of women in inland fishing is high in some communities

Any targeted growth in this sector would be achievable only through increased production from capture fisheries and aquaculture, and through the enhancement of fisheries and integrated farming systems. There is a need, however, to ensure a balance between production enhancement and environmental sustainability.

The Government has well understood that the inland fisheries and aquaculture is an imperative segment with huge potential to further develop into a thriving segment of the fisheries industry. There is a need to increase fish production in minor perennial reservoirs, seasonal tanks and brackish water bodies through culture-based fisheries.

The National Aquatic Development Authority (NAQDA) and National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) provide a range of services to the private sector to develop inland fisheries and aquaculture including public-private partnership projects and training programs to open up opportunities to the private sector.

In addition, through its regional extension services, NAQDA offers a variety of services to private sector investors who are seeking an opportunity to invest in aquaculture.

Complexity

Fishery-related livelihoods are both complex and dynamic. The importance of fisheries to livelihoods is being increasingly recognised and their various roles understood. However, further support is needed in three areas.

We must have a proper understanding of the different roles of fisheries in the livelihoods of the poor in different contexts and the issues that threaten their contribution. We must then identify management arrangements and actions that support livelihood strategies and contribute to reducing the vulnerability to risks of poor people dependent on fisheries.

Taking into account these two factors, we must promote the inclusion of fisheries in poverty reduction strategies through recognition of their importance to the livelihoods of the poor.