Lanka proposes Global Fund for Aquaculture

Urgent need to protect marine habitat, inland waters - President:

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday urged the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) to consider setting up a global fund for responsible aquaculture, which would be able to assist small farmers in developing countries engaged in aquaculture to become sustainable, responsible and competitive in production and marketing.

The threat to the right of every individual in every country to adequate food due to the increased dangers to marine fish stocks by over-fishing and environmental degradation of the oceans; the dangers to fish stocks in rivers, lagoons, tanks and other inland waters by industry and construction; the urgent need for action to conserve mangroves wherever the are threatened, are among the issues with sufficient importance to be seriously considered by FAO and its member states in order to move forward to protect the marine habitat and inland waters, to keep alive fisheries and aquaculture for the good of man and all other species of this planet, said President Rajapaksa in a video address to the special session of the FAO on Fisheries and Aquaculture in Rome.

He also asked the FAO to give serious consideration to the establishment of a Global Aquaculture Federation, to bring together the farming and farm-servicing community and the private sector that invests in aquaculture under a single global organization, to be managed by the FAO.

“We are using aquaculture in the process of rehabilitation in the East, now liberated from the clutches of terror.

“Agriculture and fisheries are the two major occupations of the people of this province. As far as agriculture is concerned, the Government has now taken measures to hand over the agricultural lands earlier occupied by the LTTE, to their owners.

“Since the East is now freed of the terror of the LTTE, we are keen to carry out major improvements in infrastructure facilities and provide every assistance possible to enable the fishing communities to resume their livelihood with the assurance of safety.

We look forward to support from the FAO, and the international community for the accelerated development programme in the East.

We see that there is a great opportunity for both private and pubic sector participation in economic activity, with fisheries being responsible for a major share of the new developments there,” the President.

Fisheries and aquaculture is small in Sri Lanka, compared to many Asian countries. China produces over 70% of the world’s food fish. Sri Lanka, today, does not come even within the first 20 countries in the world in food fish production.

Yet, it is an important sector in our economy, contributing 1.8% to GDP. We believe this could be improved. The policies of our government, makes provision for fisheries to contribute to increasing growth of the economy, hopefully taking it to double digit growth, he added.

Full text of President’s speech