On the third day (27 June) of the official French mission headed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources, Dr. B. K. Kolitha Kamal Jinadasa, productive discussions were held with two important institutions on marine science and technology.
Through these discussions, it is expected to further strengthen existing collaborative relationships.
The Secretary to the Ministry and the team, who visited the French National Museum of Natural History in Concarneau, Brest, had a cordial and productive discussion with the Head of the museum, Dr. Guillaume Massé. The main focuses of the meeting were on:
Exploring the possibility of holding a special museum exhibition in Sri Lanka.
Initiate exchange programs focused on Marine ichthyology training.
Share expertise, including methods to reduce mortality in the breeding of sea cucumbers and seahorses.
Further advancing multi-cultural research collaboration.
Later, officials from CLS (Collecte Localisation Satellites SA) were met and were educated on their satellite data acquisition and analysis facilities. The main points discussed were:
Establishment of a satellite-based technological center for the use of multiple institutions (MEPA, NARA, DFAR, etc.).
Opportunities for obtaining high-resolution satellite images.
Practical use of the NEMO small-scale boat observation system.
In addition, discussions were held with Ms. Maud Duma of Quiet Oceans. There was an important exchange of views on the use of proprietary tools such as their Smartpam for sound identification and behavioral analysis of marine mammals.
It is believed that these discussions will pave the way for meaningful collaboration and new initiatives for fisheries and marine resource management in Sri Lanka in the near future.
