CEJ backs ban on tractor-assisted gillnet fishing

Colombo, Feb. 8 (Daily Mirror) - The Central Environmental Justice (CEJ) has endorsed the government’s decision to ban the use of tractor winches in Sri Lanka’s traditional gillnet fishing industry, warning that the mechanized practice has caused significant harm to coastal ecosystems and small-scale fishing livelihoods.

Quoting CEJ officials, environmental concerns have intensified following the growing mechanization of gillnet hauling — a task historically carried out through manual labor in coastal fishing communities. According to available fisheries data, 899 gillnets are registered islandwide, with 770 currently in operation. An estimated 175 of these are now being hauled using tractor-mounted winches.

The CEJ said that the mechanization trend, initially permitted under a pilot initiative, had expanded without comprehensive environmental assessments.

“Traditional gillnets are usually cast about 1.5 kilometers into the sea, but mechanized operations now extend nets up to 8 to 10 kilometers, while increasing the frequency of casting from twice a day to as many as four times,” CEJ representatives stated, warning that the resulting impact on marine resources is comparable to bottom trawling.

The Authority highlighted multiple environmental consequences linked to the practice, including:

• Destruction of fish breeding habitats and fish eggs
• Capture of juvenile fish stocks
• Damage to coastal habitats due to tractor movement along shorelines
• Destruction of turtle nesting areas and eggs

The CEJ further observed that intensified mechanized fishing has contributed to declining fish availability for nearly 37,000 small-scale fishermen operating in shallow coastal waters using traditional crafts such as theppam and vallam.

Officials also stressed that tractor-assisted gillnet hauling contravenes several environmental and fisheries regulations, including the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act, Coastal Conservation Act, National Environment Act, Wildlife Conservation Act, and Extraordinary Gazette No. 337/48 dated February 21, 1985.

The CEJ reiterated that the government’s move to prohibit the use of tractor winches in gillnet fishing is a timely regulatory intervention to prevent further ecological degradation and to safeguard coastal marine sustainability.