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Mannar-Rameswaram sea area to be conserved

19 Oct 2021

BY Pamodi Waravita Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera is due to submit a report to the Cabinet of Ministers on the necessity of conserving the sea area, from Mannar in Sri Lanka’s north to Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, by designating it a “Highly Sensitive Marine Ecological Zone”. The Environment Ministry’s Media Unit said yesterday (18) that Amaraweera had reached this decision following an evaluative study conducted by Wayamba University Senior Lecturer Dr. Sevvandi Jayakody regarding the safety of highly sensitive ecological zones in the country. “Many protected marine species, such as dolphins, blue whales, and turtles, migrate to this sea zone. This region is also important for the breeding of fish in our coastal areas. Therefore, the Cabinet will be notified to declare the sea zone from Mannar to Rameswaram as a Highly Sensitive Marine Protection Zone,” Amaraweera had noted. The Environment Ministry especially highlighted the approximately 3,000 Indian fishing boats that enter Sri Lankan waters near the Northern Province on a weekly basis, which “wreak havoc in our seas” due to bottom trawling, which is widely regarded as an ecologically destructive fishing technique since trawlers drag heavy nets along the ocean floor, thus depleting aquatic resources. Last Sunday (17), northern fishermen took approximately 1,000 boats out to sea to participate in a large-scale protest, extending from the seas of Mullaitivu to Point Pedro in the Northern Province, against what they termed the inaction of Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda over Indian fishermen poaching in Sri Lankan seas. The aforementioned report had also proposed that the Trincomalee, Galle, Matara, and Hambantota South Ocean Zones also be designated as Highly Sensitive Marine Ecological Zones. Sri Lanka has declared several Marine Protection Areas under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance as amended in 1993, including the Pigeon Island National Park and the Hikkaduwa National Park, as a means of protecting and conserving ecologically sensitive areas.  


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