A Historical Glance at the Fisheries Development of Sri Lanka

Earliest reference which indicates that fishing in reservoirs and canals was an important

economic activity of the ancient Sinhala people is found in the Perimiyankulam Rock

inscription of King Vsabha (65 -109 A.D.). There were some common techniques used in

inland fishing. Some ancient Pali and Sinhala literary sources bear testimony to that effect.

According to Samanthapasadika the hook (bili) net (jala) and long basket (kemana) were the

most common methods used in the inland fishing in the fifth century A.D. Most of the

techniques in inland fishing have come down from the early Anuradhapura period to the

present day. Buddhist religious documents such as Jataka Atuwa Gatapadaya,

Saddhrmaratnavali and Saddharmalankara have described them in detail.

Fishing Cove near Colombo (1808,Samuel Daniel)

Robert Knox has mentioned in his ‘Historical Relations of the Island of Ceylon’ many

techniques of inland fishing as referred to in ancient Sri Lanka literature. Historical sources

dating back to the 16th century depicts traditional fishing practices used for marine and

lagoon fishery such as beach seine, stake net and fish kraals (jakotu) which are continued to

present day. However, the commercial fishing operations were started under the British

regime around 18th century to harvest pearl oysters in the Mannar basin. The pearl oyster

fishery was started in 1801 by the colonial government and carried out until 1920’s and

abandoned thereafter due to diminishing returns.

‘Kemana’ (fish trap also called long basket) (1923, Joseph Pearson)

Until 1940s, a little attention was paid to overall development of the fisheries by the colonial

government. In the post independent era Sri Lankan fisheries gradually developed in to an

important economic activity of the Sri Lankan economy. A separate Department of Fisheries

was established in 1948 under the Ministry of Industries, Industrial Research and Fisheries.

There after, fishing became an important sector in the economy and the fish production has

been increased gradually. A half of the fish production in 1950 was produced from beach

seine fishery which depicts the prevailed traditional nature of Sri Lankan fishery. After

1950s with the introduction of synthetic gill nets and motorization of fishing crafts resulted in

rapid changes in fishing technology and this was the turning point of the development of

fisheries sector in Sri Lanka.

Teppama (log raft) (1958, Anonymous)

Another remarkable event occurred in 1970, was the establishment of a new Ministry of

Fisheries for the first time in the history of Sri Lanka, exclusively to look after fisheries

development in the country. Under the 5 year national development plan of the then

government the pivotal role of fisheries sector in the economic development was understood.

The introduction of crafts with in-board engines under the hire purchase system enabled

fishermen to deploy fishing operations in the off-shore area. As a result of modernization and

mechanization of fishing industry, the total fish production in the country increased to 99,116

tons in 1973.

Multiday boats anchored in the Beruwela Fishery Harbour

The outward oriented economic policies in 1980s promoted investment in the fisheries sector

especially for harvesting deep sea fish resources. Simultaneously, rapid expansion in fishery

infrastructure facilities, fish processing, marketing and export trade of fishery products

accelerated the fisheries development in the country. Multiday fishery is a new development

in the past two decades which contributed immensely to increase deep sea fish production.

These multiday boats are well equipped with modern fishing gears and navigational

instruments. The share of offshore/deep sea fish production was about 38% of total fish

production in 2006. Expansion of the off-shore fisheries sector relieving the fishing pressure

in the coastal areas and modernization of the industry in par with developed nations are now

of the ambitious plans of the Government at present. The application of remote sensing

technology to harvest offshore/deep sea fish resources will be the next advancement in the

fishing technology in Sri Lanka in the years to come.