The Hon. Stepni Fernando
Stepni Fernando asked the Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources for details on traditional beach-seine (madäl) fishing, including where it is practiced and whether a licensing system and conditions apply. She sought clarification on whether tractors and winches are permitted or prohibited, the period and number of permissions granted if applicable, and the reasons for any current restrictions. She also asked what steps the Government will take to address fishermen’s concerns and whether scientific methods and regulated distances from shore govern the use of mechanized equipment.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, at the time of adjournment, I wish to ask the following question from the Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources.
¶ 02 Traditional beach-seine (madäl) fishing is a time-honoured method practiced by the fishing community of our country in harmony with the environment.
¶ 03 1. What are the areas of the country where beach-seine fishing is predominantly practiced?
¶ 04 2. Is there a licensing system implemented by the Government for those engaged in beach-seine fishing? If so, are there any conditions imposed? If so, what are they?
¶ 05 3. Is the use of tractors and winches permitted under that system for this labour-intensive industry?
¶ 06 4. If permission has been granted, during what period, and how many persons received such permission?
¶ 07 5. Is the mechanized use of equipment currently prohibited in beach-seine fishing? If so, why?
¶ 08 6. What steps will the Government take to address the issue raised by this group of fishermen regarding the use of mechanized equipment? Additionally, what is the scientific methodology for the use of winches and tractors, and is there a regulated distance from the shore for beach-seine operations? Are these regulated by the Ministries?
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Thursday, 19 February 2026 ·No. 23328 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
- Page · column
- not yet extracted — page/column anchors are not in the current dataset; the source PDF is the citable location.
- Permalink
/lk/speeches/30474
Cite as: The Hon. Stepni Fernando. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 19 February 2026. No. 23328. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/30474