The Ministry of Fisheries and the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources are making arrangements to introduce a new Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act in accordance with the directives and guidance of His Excellency the President, Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Minister of Fisheries, Mr. Douglas Devananda, and State Minister of Fisheries, Mr. Piyal Nishantha, with the goal of developing the fisheries sector and the sustainable harvesting through the long-term conservation and the management of fisheries and aquatic resources by repealing the existing Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act No.02 of 1996.
It has been decided to get the opinions and suggestions of all the stakeholders involved in the fisheries sector in order to achieve this task.
Accordingly, it is hoped that the final draft will be prepared taking into consideration the suggestions and comments of the relevant stakeholders and submitted by the Honorable Minister for the approval of the Cabinet expeditiously.
Therefore, all relevant stakeholders are requested to send their proposals to the secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries before September 15,2023.
The draft bill can be obtained from the website of the Fisheries Department at https://www.fisheriesdept.gov.lk or from the Assistant Director's offices of all fisheries districts.
