Grave threat to tourism and fishing industry in the East - Dharshana Jayawardena
Dynamite Fishing is now a daily occurrence in the East coast, off the coast of Uppaveli, Nilavali in Trincomalee.
On the 4th of September, we, a group of local and foreign SCUBA divers, were diving at 17 meters depth when we experienced seven concussions underwater.
Fearing for our safety, we surfaced immediately and saw a flotilla of boats about a mile away engaged in dynamiting. Fortunately none in our group were injured and we made it to the shore safely.
The result’ of this illegal and devastating practice poses a severe threat to the tourism/fishing industry.
On the next day, we did another dive in the vicinity and observed a sea bed full of dead fish. Dynamite had killed everything in the area including damaging coral. This has accelerated over-fishing and we see less and less fish each time we dive. At this rate fishermen who prastice sustainable fishing methods are going to run out of a livelihood as the eco system is severely destroyed (coral and fish).
The tourists were shocked by the explosions they encountered underwater as well as severely repulsed by the sea bed full of dead fish. (See pictures attached). They swore that they will never set foot to Sri Lanka as it was a barbarian country with a lack of regard for nature and human lives. They also said they were going to write reviews to international travel magazines and post reviews on the Internet. In the course of dynamiting if a foreigner loses his/her life it is going to cause great embarrassment to our nation.
It is only a handful of selfish fishermen who are engaged in this illegal practice. If you go to the Nilavalie beach hotel or Club Oceanic Beach hotel and speak to the dive centre, they will provide you more information and you may even be able to see the boats engaged in this practice. This happens right in front of the Navy outpost in Nilavalie/Uppaveli but I guess the Navy has more important matters to deal with at this time.
On the 4th of September, we, a group of local and foreign SCUBA divers, were diving at 17 meters depth when we experienced seven concussions underwater.
Fearing for our safety, we surfaced immediately and saw a flotilla of boats about a mile away engaged in dynamiting. Fortunately none in our group were injured and we made it to the shore safely.
The result’ of this illegal and devastating practice poses a severe threat to the tourism/fishing industry.
On the next day, we did another dive in the vicinity and observed a sea bed full of dead fish. Dynamite had killed everything in the area including damaging coral. This has accelerated over-fishing and we see less and less fish each time we dive. At this rate fishermen who prastice sustainable fishing methods are going to run out of a livelihood as the eco system is severely destroyed (coral and fish).
The tourists were shocked by the explosions they encountered underwater as well as severely repulsed by the sea bed full of dead fish. (See pictures attached). They swore that they will never set foot to Sri Lanka as it was a barbarian country with a lack of regard for nature and human lives. They also said they were going to write reviews to international travel magazines and post reviews on the Internet. In the course of dynamiting if a foreigner loses his/her life it is going to cause great embarrassment to our nation.
It is only a handful of selfish fishermen who are engaged in this illegal practice. If you go to the Nilavalie beach hotel or Club Oceanic Beach hotel and speak to the dive centre, they will provide you more information and you may even be able to see the boats engaged in this practice. This happens right in front of the Navy outpost in Nilavalie/Uppaveli but I guess the Navy has more important matters to deal with at this time.
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