Many Sri Lankans often lament that even though the nation is an island with vast oceans surrounding it, the availability of sea food and its cost makes adding it to their diet difficult.
Despite being an island, many in Sri Lanka, especially in the policymaking community fail to grasp the complexities and dynamics of the oceans around us. The lack of affinity and understanding of the oceans has placed Sri Lankans, and their food security at risk. The long-felt gaps in Sri Lanka’s Ocean scientific cognition, and capacity, and lack of policy focus on research by multiple governments, have left Sri Lanka poorly-informed and under-equipped to understand our ocean domain and sustainably harvest from it. This gap in understanding, policy formulation and enforcement, compounded by a serious Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing by regional giant India and increasingly numbers marauding fleets from beyond the region, leaves Sri Lanka’s food security and economic potential from the ocean at risk.
A recent study by a group of researchers based at the University of Western Australia (UWA) and linked to the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of British Columbia has outlined the massive role the Indian Ocean plays in feeding the world and sustaining global nutritional security. The study was published in the journal Fish and Fisheries. According to the UWA, researchers found that seafood caught in the Indian Ocean provided 12 % of all global wild-caught seafood, nearly 30 % of all calcium from seafood worldwide, almost 20 % of vitamin A, 15 % of iron, and 13 % of vitamin B12. The UWA states that the nutrients from the Indian Ocean were essential for the health of more than 800 million people living in the Indian Ocean region (IOR).
The study also uncovered that some small fish, such as anchovies, play an outsized role in nutrition. Although anchovies make up only about 2.5% of the total catch by weight, they deliver more than 20% of the Indian Ocean’s micronutrient supply, the study has found. Anchovies, which are rich in healthy omega-3 fatty acids, are also affordable and more resilient to overfishing and climate change than larger, more expensive fish such as tuna. Experts have pointed out that anchovies, herring, mackerel and sardines were all excellent sources of protein, micronutrients such as iron, zinc, vitamin B12 and calcium, as well as heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. “In contrast, species like tuna and squid are less nutrient-dense, more costly, and more vulnerable to environmental pressures,” one of the researchers who took part in the study said, adding that “Tuna and squid are also the main targets for large foreign fishing fleets that operate in the Indian Ocean but are from outside the region.” It is stated that tuna has higher economic value and is more vulnerable to overfishing and climate change. This means that large foreign fishing fleets place additional pressures on already at-risk populations while exporting economic and nutritional benefits out of the region, thereby limiting opportunities for local communities. Such findings highlight the importance of sustainable fishing practices and the need for robust ocean governance mechanisms, especially for coastal States like Sri Lanka.
Fisheries are no longer about catching the maximum number of tonnes and bringing it to the market. Increasingly, it is about making sure the right fish reach the people who need them most, while keeping the ocean healthy for generations to come. The study offers significant insights into national nutrition sustainability, blue economy and ought to be studied by public officials and policy makers.
Alas, Sri Lanka missed the boat on gaining valuable data needed to ensure the island’s food security and exports due to the loss of the fish stock assessment which was to be conducted by the United Nations-linked research vessel R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen between July and August. It was an opportunity lost to broaden our understanding of our fish stock. Delays in granting approval for the survey for which the FAO had filed a request in 2023, cost the island the opportunity of getting the data relevant to planning future fisheries strategies. Our indecision and delays in communicating our approval caused this. Sri Lanka can ill afford such blunders and needs to move quickly to bridge the gap in scientific understanding of the oceans around us and build domestic capacity and expertise to conduct our own research, feed our population and contribute to the region’s betterment.