“Small-scale fisheries make an important contribution to nutrition, food security, sustainable livelihoods and poverty alleviation – especially in developing countries. Despite this significant contribution, the issues constraining the sustainable development of small-scale fisheries remain poorly understood” (FAO).
According to Oscar Amarasinghe, Chancellor, Ocean University of Sri Lanka and
President, Sri Lanka Forum for Small Scale Fisheries (SLFSSF), Sri Lanka is no exception to this rule. High rates of resource exploitation, unregulated technological change, increasing fishing pressure, pollution of both coastal and inland waters, climate change impacts, etc. are causing threats to aquatic ecosystems, leading to resource degradation.
While facing declining catches and income, small-scale fishers have also been excluded from managing their own resources. Both their fishing rights and human rights have been violated. Recent trends in Blue Economic Growth initiatives have revealed, apart from their benefits to various stakeholders, a process of marginalization of small-scale fishing communities. There is widespread poverty among SSF communities and lives of many have become non-sustainable. It is thus evident that, it will be quite difficult to achieve the dual management objectives: resource sustainability and human wellbeing. How we are going to resolve it consists of the governance challenge today, concluded Amarasinghe.