TSUNAMI: LOSSES IN FISHERIES, AQUACULTURE CLIMB TO $520 MILLION, RECOVERY
EFFORTS UNDER WAY
UN, Feb. 17. 2005
Updated damage assessments are shedding new light on the scope of material
losses suffered by fisherfolk in southern Asia as a result of the December
2004 tsunami -- and the financial costs that will be involved in rehabilitating
the affected region's all-important fisheries and aquaculture sectors.
“The current estimate for direct losses in the fisheries sector
is now around $520 million”, Jeremy Turner, head of the Fishery
Technology Service of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said
today.
According to FAO's latest information:
-- 111,073 fishing vessels were destroyed or damaged, with an estimated
replacement cost of $161 million;
-- 36,235 engines were lost or damaged beyond repair, with replacement
costs projected at $73 million;
-- 1.7 million units of fishing gear (nets, tackle, and similar equipment)
were destroyed, with an estimated replacement cost of $86 million.
-- Cost of repairs of other damages to the fisheries sector, such as
to aquaculture operations, fishing industry infrastructure and harbours,
are estimated to be in excess of $200 million.
These figures refer to only those seven countries most affected by
the tsunami: India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Somalia, Sri Lanka
and Thailand.
Immediate Assistance Includes Planning Advice, Repairs to Boats,
Provision of Nets
The FAO has fielded 22 fisheries specialists to the affected countries,
and 11 more will soon be dispatched to join them. The teams include
master fishermen, naval architects, boat builders, ice-plant and cold
room specialists, marine biologists, aquaculturists and fisheries planners.
They are working with national governments to assess damages to fisheries
and aquaculture and are providing advice and immediate assistance, including
facilitating repairs to damaged boats and replacement of lost nets.
The first priority is to repair boats that can be repaired. In Sri
Lanka FAO's team is distributing resin, fibreglass and tools to repair
teams fielded by CEYNOR, a semi-governmental corporation with which
the FAO is cooperating, as well as to private builders who are also
doing repair work.
So far, the FAO has purchased more than 12 tonnes of fibre-reinforced
plastic (FRP) repair materials sufficient to repair over 300 boats and
has procured 20 sets of tools and equipment for use by the repair teams.
The FAO is also purchasing and distributing ropes and nets. This fishing
gear has been commissioned from local netmakers, who are working at
150 per cent of their normal output capacity. Some 500 fishers have
benefited so far, and further orders are being placed with regional
and international companies to benefit 5,000 fishermen on the south
and south-western coasts of Sri Lanka.
Additional purchases are now also being initiated as damage assessments
for northern provinces are completed.
The technical specifications of the fishing gear are being identified
in close collaboration with local fishermen to assure that the net-
and other gear-types are appropriate to local needs and customs.
Broad Collaboration Involved
This activity complements work being carried out by non-governmental
organizations, which in Sri Lanka have coordinated with the national
Fisheries Ministry to fund the construction of replacement craft via
local builders.
Rehabilitation efforts are being coordinated by the Sri Lankan Government
with an inter-agency task force, to which the FAO belongs, assisting
with implementation.
Also, FAO's Regional Office for the Asia-Pacific has established a
relief consortium with fisheries and aquaculture organizations in the
tsunami-affected region to pool resources and provide countries with
additional support.
Long Process of Recovery under Way
The FAO is also working with governments to plan the long-term recovery
of fisheries and aquaculture, including creation of multi-year technical
assistance and planning programmes and continued delivery of replacement
fishing vessels and equipment.
“We're looking at things in terms of phases. The immediate phase
involves rapid relief work and that work is being carried out admirably
by local authorities, our sister UN organizations, and others”,
Mr. Turner said. “As regards fisheries and aquaculture, FAO is
providing immediate inputs and advice, but is also working with governments
to help them chart out a long-term, far-sighted recovery effort.”
Getting Rehabilitation Right
To help that effort, the FAO has produced a framework strategy for
the rehabilitation of fisheries and aquaculture in the tsunami zone
which it hopes will help contribute to sustainable and responsible fishing
in the region as the sector gets back on its feet.
“We should not re-create one of the major problems within fisheries
prior to the tsunami: over-capacity in the coastal fisheries”,
said Mr. Turner. “To simplify, that means too many boats, too
much fishing effort. We must ensure that we do not surpass the level
of fishing capacity that was there before the disaster.”
The framework provides recommendations on a number of other issues,
including: making sure that leadership of fisheries and aquaculture
rehabilitation comes from the governments and fishing communities in
the affected countries; relies on local craftsmen and suppliers as much
as possible; and respects local needs and sensibilities and focuses
on people and their livelihoods.
Fishers in the region affected by the tsunami use gear that is specialized
to match local fish stocks, sea conditions and customs, and the FAO
is stressing that it is important that any equipment brought in or donated
from overseas match those requirements.
