The EU’s decision on whether to impose sanctions on Sri Lanka in regards to Illegal Unregulated Unreported (IUU) fishing will be made on June 26.
Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Ministry made submissions to Brussels last week, in an attempt to avoid sanctions.
“We have taken a number of measures. The EU is happy about it. We also have a vessel monitoring system in place,” Minister Rajitha Senaratne said.
“My discussion with EU officials was fruitful. We were able to impress upon them about our case. Our fisheries industry is a means of livelihood. Also, it is important for food security. Therefore, it is not practical to impose certain tough rules on vessel monitoring. We explained this to them,” he said.
The EU is a major trading partner for fish and fisheries product exports, which bring in an annual income of Rs.22 billion.
Sri Lanka promises to comply with fishing rules after UK complaint (13 May 2012)