Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Ministry has taken measures to provide e-log books for all multi-day fishing vessels to enter fish harvest information.
Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said that the Ministry will provide e-log books for 2,328 multi-day fishing vessels at the total cost of Rs. 78 million.
“According to international laws, it was compulsory to maintain records of fish catch information by the multi-day fishing vessels engaged in fishing activities in international waters and to provide it to the European Union (EU) to avoid the mismanagement of fisheries resources.” said the Minister.
Having a good recognition among the international community as a country which follows international rules and regulations related to the fisheries industry is very much important to avoid future issues related to the industry such as ban on fishing imports that we experienced recently.
The software used in e-log books has been developed by the University of Colombo and the e-log books would be handed over to the owners of multi-day fishing vessels free of charge and the vessel owners would be trained to use the e-log book, he added.