| Environmentalists warn of consequences of over-exploitation of a natural resource | ||||
|
By Lakwi Perera Jellyfish Exports…… The jellyfish export business has caused a stir, with the government and environmentalists arguing for and against the harvesting and export of the marine creature. At a news conference last week, environmentalists said the bulk export of jellyfish was detrimental to Sri Lanka’s eco-system, while the Minister of Fisheries, Felix Perera, insisted that the processed jellyfish export trade was necessary for the country’s economy.
The processed jellyfish is exported to China, where it is considered a delicacy, as well as an aphrodisiac. According to environmentalists, the mass harvesting of jellyfish is harmful to the marine environment. Environmentalist and lawyer Jagath Gunawardena told The Sunday Times that jellyfish harvesting is seasonal. Harvesting is now under way in seas off Panama and Komariya, in the Ampara district, and in the Kirinda area in Hambantota district. Under present procedures, processed jellyfish is exported on “no-objection†letters issued by the government, while a license is required to catch, process, and export jellyfish. The Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act, No. 2, of 1996 does not cover jellyfish. Regulations covering jellyfish exports have yet to be gazetted, and this is the Fisheries Minister’s responsibility. Till then, matters relating to jellyfish come under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance and the Director General of the Department of Wildlife Conservation. The jellyfish species exported is commonly referred to as “mushroom jellyâ€. It is caught in bulk by fishermen and sent for processing. The jellyfish are immersed in a mixture of alum and salt to extract their water content; in the process the creature shrinks to five percent of its original size. More than 100 to 150 tons of jellyfish are processed daily. According to Minister Felix Perera, some 20,000 fishermen make a living from the harvesting of jellyfish. According to informed sources, Sri Lanka’s jellyfish trade is largely a monopoly controlled by three firms; two are registered as exporters of ornamental fish and plywood, and the other is a British firm. Minister Perera maintains that marine ecosystems are not being threatened by the jellyfish trade, and denies that the ocean’s jellyfish resources were being “over-exploitedâ€. Speaking to The Sunday Times, Minister Perera explained that there were different species of jellyfish, and that only two species were suitable for export purposes.
“These two species are available in our seas only a few weeks of the year. We have to harvest these jellyfish at this particular time, before the jellyfish shoals drift away, either towards India or the Maldives. If we don’t act in a timely way, we will lose out,†the Minister said. “The country needs foreign exchange, and this is a good source.†A source at the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said the no-objection letters required for the export of processed jellyfish are issued at the request of the exporters, following a brief assessment conducted by the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency. According to the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources source, the jellyfish population density is high, and there is no urgency for imposing controls on the harvesting of jellyfish. The official also told The Sunday Times that the department had not received any jellyfish export data from the exporters. A Sri Lanka Customs official said exporters of processed jellyfish should have a permit, and that a “no-objection†letter alone was insufficient for documentation purposes. According to the official, the first consignment of processed jellyfish for export arrived in two 40-foot containers at Colombo port in October 2007. The consignment was detained by Customs, but later released on the intervention of the then Treasury Secretary, Dr. P. B. Jayasundara, the Fisheries Minister and the Director General of Customs, Sarath Jayatilaka. “Over-exploitation of a resource will only result in the demise of that resource,†said environmentalist Mr. Gunawardena, citing the pearl oyster, spiny lobster and sea cucumber, which have either died out or whose numbers have been much diminished by over-exploitation. |
By Lakna Paranamanna
The illegal jellyfish exporting racket discovered several months ago has once again raised its head in the suburbs of the Eastern Province.
(There at at least three operations at Arugam Bay as well at present)
An environmental expert told The Nation that this trade is mostly being conducted in the lagoons of Okanda and Komariya in the Eastern Province and also in areas such as Godawana and Kirinda. “As we warned when this was conducted last time, the poachers have moved down to the southern coastal areas too,†environmental expert, Jagath Gunawardena pointed out.
“About 2,000 kg of jellyfish are being brought from the sea twice a day and this is once again causing severe damage to the coastal areas of the Eastern Province,†said Gunawardena. The jellyfish in these areas are reduced at a rate and if this continues, Gunawardena warned these animals will become extinct in these coastal areas.
Last year, the Customs Department took into custody about 15 containers which contained about 249 kg of jellyfish, which were being exported by a private firm in Ja-Ela. These jellyfish are mainly exported to China because they are considered a popular delicacy. “After several raids in areas like Tangalle, this activity was ceased for quite some time, but now it seems as if they have started it on a larger scale than before,†asserted Gunawardena.
source:
http://www.nation.lk/2008/07/20/news12.htm
Do you agree with this view?
Do you want to know a bit more about JellyFish?
start your research with this link:
http://www.arugam.info/2008/07/20/jellyfish/
the jellyfish has always been a pest to the fisherman and has a very short life span and is “blooming out of control†everywhere in the world due to global warming and overfishing. The mushroom jellyfish blooms in millions in the eastern seas in sri lanka and they die within a span of 3-4 months or drift with the ocean currents to india and other countries, where they catch them and export.
Removing it from the seas is best for other fish species (because jellyfish prey on other fish fry) and also pollutes the beach when the drift to the shore after they die.
The jellyfish is like a mosquito in the sea!! it is a pest!! For the fisherman and all other marine life…. The lagoons such as the Negombo lagoon and the putlam lagoon is also full of jellyfish… even if you go to bati you can see the amounts of jellyfish that drift with the water under the Otamawadi bridge…
Nowhere in the world is the export of jellyfish prohibited … but as usual in sri lanka some maniac environmentalists oppose the jellyfish fishery on the same bases that they oppose all development projects like “building the kandalama hotel†… but if you go deep to the motives it is always supported and funded by NGO’s and developed countries to leave the third world countries as poor as they are.
These so called environmentalist are preventive the export of jellyfish under no legal stance and the only motive is that they earn money for these activities from countries like India…where the jellyfish exports are a main source of foreign exchange income and the catch of jellyfish in sri lanka reduces the number of jellyfish drifted towards india.
In arugam-bay the hotels are suffering without income …the average foreigner that comes for surfing tends to stay in cheap rooms Rs. 150-200 per day and don’t really spend money like other categories of foreigners in the Colombo or Negombo areas… the guys who come are obviously broke…nothing to do surfers ………
The jellyfish fishery in-turn has bought much more income to the hotels in the areas (since the exporters and the buyers stay in the best hotels) and thousands of poor fishermen earn an average of Rs.20,000 per day continuously during the season…so I think that the government and the people in the east should support the jellyfish trade and open their doors to development after many decades of war and terror.