Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources Ramalingam Chandrasekar has said practical and swift solutions will be provided to control pirate activity that poses a serious threat to fishermen engaged in deep-sea fishing.
The minister made the remarks at a meeting of the Ampara District Fisheries Coordinating Committee.
Call for a permanent mechanism
Representatives of fisheries associations at the meeting called on the minister to establish an immediate and permanent mechanism to completely curb pirate activity, according to the account of the meeting.
Neither the minister nor the associations put a figure on the number of incidents, named the waters where the attacks have occurred, or set a timeline for the measures. No details were given on whether the Navy or the Coast Guard would be brought into the response.
Oluvil Port
Chandrasekar also said Oluvil Port will be developed with the participation of both local and foreign investors, and pointed to what he described as growing interest among investors in using the facility.
Oluvil, on the east coast in the Ampara district, operates as a combined commercial and fisheries harbour. The minister did not name any prospective investor or state the value of the investment being sought.
The site has been under separate scrutiny for coastal erosion. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in July ordered an expert committee to examine erosion along the Oluvil coastline and directed that Oluvil Harbour and fisheries infrastructure be included in a scientific plan to protect the eastern coastline.
The fisheries sector is under separate pressure from the weather. The ministry earlier asked the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency to assess fish stocks and the impact of El Niño on the industry.
