‘Chinese investment’ in sea cucumber farm sparks concerns among northern Sri Lankan fishermen

SRI LANKA: Northern Sri Lankan fishermen see government’s thrust on commercial aquaculture as latest threat to their livelihoods and land.

Citing media reports of a Chinese firm investing in a sea cucumber farm in Pungudutivu, off Jaffna Peninsula in northern Sri Lanka, local fishermen have raised concern over its potential impact on their livelihoods, marine ecosystem, and land. 

“We recognise the need for investment in our war-affected region, but the sea cucumber farms are mainly for exports. They will only bring more harm than benefit for those of us living here,” said Annalingam Annarasa, President of the Jaffna Fisheries Federation.  The commercial ventures, they fear, could adversely affect the local marine ecology on which their livelihoods rely.

Small-scale artisanal fishermen like him see the government’s recent push on aquaculture as the latest blow to their livelihoods, already precarious due to the relentless bottom-trawling by Indian fishermen in their seas for years, and the drastic, nearly four-fold increase in kerosene price last month.

Source: www.thehindu.com(https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/chinese-investment-in-sea-cucumber-farm-sparks-concerns-among-northern-sri-lankan-fishermen)