Enhancing Rural Farmer Income through Fish Production:Secondary use of water resources in Sri Lanka and elsewhere

Abstract

The inland fishery of Sri Lanka has been essentially a capture fishery from major and medium scale irrigation reservoirs. However, small-sized (<100 ha) minor irrigation reservoirs are also frequent in the country. Naturally, these water bodies are incapable of supporting self-recruiting fisheries, but can be utilized to enhance the fish production significantly through development of culture-based fisheries (CBF), without causing impediment on their primary use . CBF in village reservoirs of Sri Lanka is a communal activity, and the water bodies used for this purpose are rural, thus benefiting rural communities by augmenting their traditional means of incomes and also increased food-fish availability. CBF is a non-water consumptive secondary activity that brings into play communities that were not engaged in fishery-related activities previously. It is also environmentally friendly, as the only external input is the seed stock. CBF is a present day paradigm of ecosystem-based aquaculture. CBF has developed as a result of coordinated efforts of a multitude of stakeholders, working in unison, resulting in developing and improving the knowledge base, facilitating required legislative change, such as in the case of amendment of the Agrarian Development Act, and issue of a governmental decree permitting and encouraging CBF in Sri Lanka and community organizations. CBF is a sustainable activity that also impinges on bringing better harmony amongst rural communities. Most importantly, CBF brought about socio-economic benefits to the rural communities. In a similar vein, CBF activities are being adopted in the mountainous region of Northern Vietnam, and in reservoir coves and flood plain depressions in Lao PDR, with results complimentary to those from Sri Lanka. In all the instances, CBF activities have been sustainable with a strong community-based management strategy driving it. In all the countries, rural farming communities are adopting CBF in suitable water bodies with resulting improved income generation and food-fish availability to the rural communities.