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Saturday, 13 February 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Ashwin Hemmathagama - Our Lobby Correspondent
In an effort to fall in line with European Union regulations, Parliament yesterday adopted new laws amending the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act No.2 of 1996 to take action against offences committed beyond the maritime borders of the island.
The new measures are expected to improve Sri Lanka’s appeal to overturn a ban on fishing exports to the EU, which came into effect early last year.
According to new laws passed yesterday, clause 2 will amend section 49 of Fisheries and the Aquatic Resources Act No.2 of 1996 and the legal effect of the section as amended is to impose higher fines in respect of persons who have committed offences beyond the limits of Sri Lankan waters.
Moving the motion, Leader of the House Minister Lakshmann Kiriella observed that the previous government had failed to implement the road map presented by the EU following the issuance of a yellow card to reduce unregulated fishing in Lankan waters.
“There has been an issue fining those who violated laws in international waters. This was in discussion between Sri Lanka and the European Union for a long time. So, the EU issued a yellow card and provided a road map in 2012. But the [former] government failed to follow this. Moving forward, the EU provided a new road map to take actions and fine those who commit crimes beyond the marine borders of Sri Lanka.”
Clause 3 amends section 52 of the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act No.2 of 1996 and the legal effect of the section as amended is to enable the Director-General to impose a monetary penalty not exceeding a third of the maximum fine that could be imposed under this Act in respect of persons who have committed offences beyond the limits of Sri Lankan waters. Clause 4 amends section 61 of the principal enactment and the legal effect of the section as amendment is to regulate export and import of fish and fisheries products.
