WORKING PAPERS - BOBP/WP/41
The Demersal Fisheries Of Sri Lanka
K. Sivasubramaniam
Senior Fishery Biologist, BOBP
and
R. Maldeniya
Scientific Officer, NARA National Aquatic Resources Agency (NARA), Colombo.
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WORKING PAPERS - BOBP/WP/41 The Demersal Fisheries Of Sri LankaK. Sivasubramaniam |
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Executing Agency: FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Funding Agency: SWEDISH INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Development of Small-Scale Fisheries in the Bay of Bengal. Madras, India, December 1985. |
| The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. |
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© FAO 2004
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The investigations for this paper were carried out during 1982 by the small-scale fisheries project of BOBP (Bay of Bengal Programme) in active cooperation with NARA (National Aquatic Resources Agency).The paper sets out conclusions about the most productive belt for valuable resources, peak seasons, and the level of surplus yield. It suggests that the demersal fishery in the shelf area should be developed as a small-scale fishery, because rapid exploitation may destroy the resource. Development should be on an area wise basis, and capital investment based on surplus yield levels in each area. A combination of fishing methods will be needed to fish the entire exploitable potential in most areas. Besides the bottom trawl, passive methods should be encouraged. The paper also evaluates the status of Sri Lanka’s demersal fishery, on the basis of a field survey at major fish landing sites over a period of two weeks in September 1982, conducted by 1 2 staff members of NARA; and on the basis of statistics compiled by the Ministry of Fisheries. The paper gives rough estimates of catch and catch rates, species composition and annual demersal production in Sri Lanka. The BOBP’s experimental work on tapping Sri Lanka’s demersal resources is reported in other papers. BOBP/WP/6, BOBP/WP/16, and BOBP/WP/40 describe the findings of experiments with bottom longlines. Papers describing experimental work with fish traps and high-opening bottom trawls are under preparation. |
PREFACE
1. A REVIEW OF THE RESULTS OF DEMERSAL FISH RESOURCES SURVEYS AROUND SRI LANKA by K. Sivasubramaniam
Introduction
Results of past surveys on demersal resources
Biomass and potential yield 11 Gulland’s first approximation method
Discussion
Conclusions
References
2. STATUS OF DEMERSAL FISHERY IN SRI LANKA, by R. Maldeniya Introduction
Census of craft and fishing methods
Analysis of fishery data
Fishing season
Catch and catch rates
Annual demersal fish production
Species composition