Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Dr Rajitha Senaratne has rejected UK’s accusations that Sri Lankan fishermen are engage in Illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing around the shores of British isles. The minister was addressing a meeting at the international summit on Tuna Fisheries Management in Brisbane, Australia.
According to the minister UK’s accusation was devoid of truth and unfounded. The summit was held with the participation of ministers from the member states of the Regional Fisheries Management Organization (RFMO). The organization is dedicated to establish sustainable fisheries development across the globe by combating unregulated fishing in any region.
RFMO British representatives had raised that Sri Lankan fishermen are in the practice of crossing maritime boundaries and fishing around British and French islands. Minister Dr Senaratne said the British representatives accused Sri Lanka of engaging in illegal unreported and unregulated fishing with prohibited fishing gear to catch fish.
Senaratne informed that Sri Lankan fishermen are having the practice of catching smaller fish. The Minister had reportedly said at the summit that although he had families of fishermen coming to discuss their problems once a week, he has never come across a single complaint from these families that their folk have strayed into the seas of a Western country.
He had explained to Indian Ocean Tuna Commission’s Executive Director Alijantho Anganushi and the British delegation leader Dr Kris it was unfair to accuse Sri Lanka of any such IUU fishing around the coastal areas of a Western country. Senaratne said there has been a lot of misunderstanding in the IOTC and other RFMOs of the Western countries with regard to IUU fishing.
