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Probe into Mirissa spearfishing video

13 Feb 2022

BY Pamodi Waravita  State Minister of Ornamental Fish, Inland Fish, and Prawn Farming, Fishery Harbour Development, Multi-Day Fishing Activities, and Fish Exports Kanchana Wijesekera said yesterday (13) that the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DFAR) has begun an investigation into the recent video of illegal spearfishing in Mirissa, whilst environmentalists claim that spearfishing is an increasingly common occurrence now due to its popularity with tourists.  “Spearfishing is illegal In Sri Lanka. Although there have been requests to lift the ban on spearfishing, the Government of Sri Lanka will not be lifting the ban or relaxing the current laws. The DFAR has also commenced an investigation into the videos shared on social media on illegal spearfishing. Continuous raids are conducted islandwide by the officials,” Wijesekera Tweeted yesterday.  He added that a raid was also conducted in Dehiwala two weeks ago, and released pictures of spear guns that were arrested during the raid.  A video posted on a TikTok profile with the username “@king_of_fishing” showed an individual engaging in the banned sport in Mirissa. Speaking to The Morning yesterday, DFAR Mirissa Fisheries Inspector Division officials said that that particular incident occurred about two weeks ago.  “The tourist has gone with a spear gun and the coastguard tried their best to apprehend him but they could not. We heard that he had come to Mirissa from Hikkaduwa, where he had mistakenly understood that spearfishing is possible in Mirissa. It is not possible – a fine of Rs. 25,000 can be charged under the Fisheries and Resources Act No. 2 of 1996 if an individual is caught spearfishing,” they stressed.  They added that whilst the Mirissa Fisheries Inspector Division does not often receive complaints of spearfishing (this incident being the first for the year), awareness about existing local laws need to be increased amongst visitors to Sri Lanka.  Similarly, The Pearl Protectors Environmental Conservation Co-ordinator Muditha Katuwawala told The Morning yesterday that monitoring efforts need to increase, especially along the southern coast, to prevent such incidents from occurring.  “We believe that the Western Province Coastguard is doing a phenomenal job. However, in the southern coast, efforts need to increase to enforce the existing laws more strictly. We have observed a very unfortunate increase in demand for spearfishing – especially from tourists from Ukraine and Russia. This is happening under the nose of the authorities. There is also a lack of knowledge and awareness about the illegality of this sport in Sri Lanka,” said Katuwawala.  Furthermore, he said that due to the increase in demand, social media pages promoting the illegal sport and its equipment have been observed by The Pearl Protectors.  In an interview with The Morning in late 2020, marine biologist Dr. Asha De Vos, commenting on the effects of spearfishing, said that “in an economic sense, when the fish are alive, tourists will come back repeatedly to see the fish. Once you kill that fish and take it out of the water, people wouldn’t return because there’s no point in coming back when there’s nothing left to see. So economically, it doesn’t make sense. Basically, a fish is worth more alive than dead.”


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