Sustainable Fisheries and Protected Areas in Sri Lanka

Sustainable Fisheries and Protected Areas in Sri Lanka

Photo credit: Blue Resources Trust
Grantee Blue Resources Trust
Grant Amount $908,000
Duration Three Years

Oceans 5 supports a collaboration led by Blue Resources Trust (BRT), working closely with pelagikos pvt ltd, the Sri Lankan Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC), the Department of Fisheries and AquaticResources Development (DFAR), and the Ocean Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to achieve protection of Sri Lanka’s oceans by 2030.

To achieve this long-term goal, this project will implement three actions by mid-2024 focusing on:

(1) coastal resource management and conservation in three districts,

(2) increasing Sri Lanka’s national MPA coverage by 500% (0.46% to 2.0%), and

(3) marine resource management and conservation within and beyond Sri Lanka’s EEZ.

These will include more effective and sustainably financed management of existing and new marine protected areas across the three districts, the declaration of three new district fisheries management areas and three marine sanctuaries, harbour programmes for endangered, threatened or protected (ETP) species, greater compliance with the ten principles for global transparency in the fishing industry, and a new National Plan of Action for illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.

All this combined will increase the extent of protected areas while ensuring effective implementation and management.