This report presents the results of a one-year study of dolphin catches in Shri Lanka. Very high estimates of dolphin landings, based on studies of limited coverage and questionable sampling techniques, had been made in the past and were causing much concern in the island. The study was, therefore, commissioned to obtain a reliable estimate of dolphin catches and their economic importance as well as to gather information on the attitudes to and perceptions of dolphin catching, trading and consumption.

The study, carried out from September 1991 to September 1992, included both bioeconomic and socioeconomic components. It was made by the National Aquatic Resources Agency (NARA) of Shri Lanka and was sponsored by a Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP) project, “Small-Scale Fisherfolk Communities in the Bay of Bengal” (GCP/RAS/118/MUL). The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance rendered by K. Sivasubramaniam, Senior Fishery Biologist, FAO/BOBP, in the technical supervision of the study, Inge Jungeling, Socioeconomist (APO), FAO/BOBP, for assisting in the socioeconomic component of the study and Kanthi Subasinghe, Mahendra Fernando and R. Samarakoon, Research Assistants of NARA, in monitoring the bioeconomic component of the study.