The Minister of Fisheries, Mr. Douglas Devananda, said today (21) in the Parliament that necessary steps have been taken to provide the fuel required for the fishing industry quickly and arrangements have been made to provide fuel to the fishermen on a daily basis. The Minister informed this chairing the meeting of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Fisheries held today at the parliament.
The Minister also noted that with the aim of improving the freshwater fish industry it is expected to speed up breeding of fish fry in 4000 identified reservoirs by the end of this year and steps will be taken to establish more Fisheries Corporation outlets in different areas. Meanwhile, State Minister of Fisheries Piyal Nishantha said that a special program to improve the education, health and welfare of the children of the fishery community will be started in conjunction with the World Children’s Day on October 1st.
The Committee approved three orders under the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act No. 2 of 1996. According to the orders published in Gazette Notice No. 2255/22 dated November 24, 2021, there will be revisions in the fees charged for certain activities related to the fisheries industry.
Fees related to sale of value-added fishery products, import and export and re-export of fishery related equipment, registration number allocation for manufacturing of new vessels and registration of vessels have also been revised accordingly. Pursuant to the orders published in Gazette Notice No. 2277/04 dated 25th April 2022, the protection of blue swimming crabs is expected.
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, State Minister Sanath Nishantha, MPs Chandima Weerakkody, Charles Nirmalanathan, Weerasumana Weerasinghe, Sanjeeva Edimanna, Chinthaka Amal Mayadunna, Hesha Withanage, Major Sudarshan Denipitiya and Rajika Wickramasinghe and a group of officials representing the Ministry of Fisheries also participated in this event.