Vast natural resources and conducive environmental conditions:

Enormous potential for aquaculture

By Naalir Jamaldeen

Half of the total global seafood supply for human consumption is now produced by aquaculture. In Sri Lanka, commercial scale aquaculture is still at an early stage of development, with commercial shrimp, fresh water fish, and ornamental fish farming being the main areas practiced in Sri Lanka.

Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Dr Rajitha Senaratne and NARA Chairman Dr. S.G. Samasundera inspect some of the sea food items.

Since there are vast natural resources and suitable environmental conditions available for aquaculture, Sri Lanka has enormous potential to increase finfish and shellfish production through sustainable development of the aquaculture sector, which will be important in helping Sri Lanka achieve increased seafood production targets and enhance food and nutrition security. This can be accomplished by promoting the sustainable utilisation of under-exploited finfish and shellfish species for cultivation, which can then be popularised on a commercial scale through increased investment and recruitment and training of communities to undertake aquaculture, National Aquatic Resources Development Authority Chairman Dr. S.G. Samarasundera said in an interview with the Sunday Observer.

He said that Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development, Dr. Rajitha Senaratne plans to focus attention on high value and under-utilised aquatic resources such as sea cucumber, sea weed, and bivalve mollusk (oyster, mussel, clams and cockles) to increase fish and fishery related production for the local and international markets as well. To increase production through aquaculture, several community based livelihood development programs were initiated and successfully conducted by NARA under the close supervision of NARA at the different locations in Sri Lanka.

Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa has supported the fishery industry in Sri Lanka through Divi Neguma and other various community based projects. Promoting the community in taking high value species culture and farming in increasing foreign revenue to the country and increasing the livelihood of the fisher community is the goal of the Ministry of Economic development, Dr. Samarasundera said.

"Such programs lead the way for higher incomes and increased export earnings. Bivalve shellfish aquaculture, particularly oyster farming, shows tremendous promise based on the work conducted by NARA and supported in part by a recent project carried out under the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund Program through the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada", the NARA Chairman said.

A high level Canadian delegation consisting of the High Commissioner, Shelley Whiting, Ms. Jennifer Hart, Counselor (Political), Dr. Nihal Atapattu, Senior Development Officer, the Project Canadian Lead Dr. Tim Dejager and the Sri Lanka Principal Investigator Dr. Sam Daniel, visited NARA and the oyster farming site at Gangewadiya. Community members from the Kandakuliya oyster farming site also participated in the visit. As a result, the delegation was very impressed with the progress made and the opportunity opening up for new investment and growth in seafood production, which also supports sustainable livelihoods for impoverished communities in coastal and rural Sri Lanka. They will promote this opportunity for the sustainable development of the bivalve shellfish farming industry in Sri Lanka to the Canadian government and the Canadian and global investment community, he said.

Edible bivalve species namely oysters (Crassostreamadrasensis, C. belcheri, Saccostreacucullata), mussels (Perna perna, Perna viridis), clams (Marcia opima, Marcia hiantina, Geloina coaxans, Meretrix meretrix, M. casta), Cockles (Gafrarium tumidum, Anadara sp.) and other economically important bivalve species Pinctada vulgaris, P. maxima, Placuna placenta are naturally available in marine and brackish water bodies throughout the coastal areas of Sri Lanka. Hence there is also a great potential for the development of a bivalve mollusk farming industry in Sri Lanka due to the availability of vast natural bivalve resources as well as favorable environmental conditions for bivalve farming, Dr. Samarasundera said.

From 1984 to 1992 a bivalve mollusk research and pilot scale mollusk culture program was carried out by NARA under the leadership of Dr. W.M. Indrasena and Prof. W.M.T.B. Wanninayake at Trincomalee, Kalpitiya and Rumassala area at Galle. This project was funded by International Development research Centre (IDRC) Canada, he said.

"In 2011, the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF) launched a new project in Sri Lanka to address the knowledge and capacity constraints of developing sustainable aquaculture in Sri Lanka. Oyster aquaculture was one of the key areas in which the project focused its efforts. The research team from Canada, led by Dr. Tim Dejager (University of Calgary and the British Columbia Aquatic Food Resources Society) and from Sri Lanka, led by Professor W.M.T.B Wanninayake, and Dr. Sam Daniel partnered with the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) led by Dr. Palitha Kithsiri, Deputy Director General Research and Development under the my guidance, the Northwestern Provincial Council, and a private sector firm, Tropical Shellfish, interested in developing markets for oysters",NARA Chairman said.

The oyster research and culture program was carried out with a view to providing self employment opportunities especially for the women in the fishery communities at Gangewadiya and Kandakuliya in Puttalam District.

The project is creating a new opportunity for rural poor communities to improve their livelihoods. The work of the project to develop oyster aquaculture in Sri Lanka has resulted in two successfully established pilot scale farms in the Puttalam Lagoon area - Gangewadiya and Kandakuliya. Women play a key and leading role in these new opportunities. Markets have been developed by Tropical Shellfish (Pvt.) and are now growing steadily both within Sri Lanka and in export markets.

The foundation for a molluscan shellfish sanitation and safety program has been laid through the contribution of NARA to monitoring and testing oysters and growing waters for contaminants (faecal coliforms, pathogenic bacteria, harmful algal blooms, heavy metals, etc). NARA has also been instrumental is working with the private sector to develop purification systems to ensure product is safe for the market, he said.

At present the selected two fisher communities are successfully carrying out oyster culture programs in the two locations. NARA is looking forward to develop the oyster farming industry in Sri Lanka until it becomes successfully commercialized. It has been planned to initiate the community based oyster and mussel farming programs at Mannar, Baticaloa and Trincomalee districts, he said.

NARA is also planning to conduct research and monitoring programs in three key areas for the sustainable development of the bivalve mollusk farming industry in Sri Lanka, Dr. Samarasundera said.

Developing a program for mollusk shellfish safety and quality is necessary to ensure the product is safe for the market and the resources on which this form of aquaculture depends are managed in a sustainable manner.

This involves testing growing waters and oysters for sanitary conditions, identifying contaminants such as pathogenic bacteria, biotoxins and heavy metals and providing a knowledge sharing and alert system shared along the value chain.

Testing of purification processes such as depuration is being supported by NARA through construction of a research facility for this purpose at its station in Kalpitiya. Improving the handling and processing of oysters and creating a chain of custody and traceability with a view to sustainability and market safe certification will provide confidence in the markets of the quality and safety of Sri Lanka products, he said.

Environment and sanitation

Mangroves, lagoons and natural oyster stocks provide the essential ecosystem services for which communities involved in oyster farming can play key roles as partners in co-management. NARA will survey resources and ecosystems, designate areas to be utilized and protected for bivalve farming, and work with stakeholders to sustainably co-manage these areas, he said.

Refining and improving the culture process for community farming of oysters (with private sector partners) is needed. Introducing the correct technologies is based on initial systems tested in the project such as growing oysters in pouches and nets hung on racks constructed in lagoons. The communities will be provided with training and support in creating nursery systems for juvenile oysters, improved processes for sorting and cleaning oysters on a regular basis, and preparing inventories for oysters ready to be shipped to markets.

The time is right now for Sri Lanka to step into the world stage as a recognised aquaculture producer providing high quality, safe and sustainable seafood to its people and the world, the Chairman said.