EU technical team arrives in SL to observe local fishery activities

By Waruni Paranagamage

A technical evaluation team from the European Union (EU) arrived in Sri Lanka on Thursday (12) to observe local fishery activities following the ban imposed by the EU on seafood exports, Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development officials said.

The objective of the delegation’s visit was to compile a report on the progress made by Sri Lanka in order to ensure that the local fish export industry is in compliance with EU standards.

The EU team is to hold discussions with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Mahinda Amaraweera and other Government officials.

The delegation will visit fisheries ports island-wide for further clarifications on technical aspects that will be essential for the final report. 

However, the Ministry officials said that a special EU representative is due to arrive in Sri Lanka on 16 November to consider the final report compiled by the technical delegation and make a decision on the ban.

Meanwhile, the Government is hopeful that the export ban could be revoked by early next year following the visit. The revoke of the ban is expected to initiate investment opportunities in the fisheries sector.

Amaraweera further said that foreign and local investors are invited to invest in opportunities in the fisheries sector and that they expect to provide more opportunities for projects in the marine and fresh water fisheries industries.

The EU imposed the ban on Sri Lanka’s fish exports to the EU in January 2015 as a result of allegedly engaging in Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.

They recommended fitting Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) on high-sea fishing vessels, maintaining and updating a register of high-sea fishing licenses, maintaining log books, displaying the national flag on boats and other several requirements in order to revoke the ban. 

Sri Lanka earned Rs.18,458 million from fish exports between January to September in 2015. However, earnings have declined by 30.7% to Rs.8176 million, when taking into account the earnings made in the same period in 2014.

The EU market used to purchase 68% of its fish from Sri Lankan exporters and the country still maintains its place as the second largest tuna exporter to the region.