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A team from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) undertook a mission to Sri Lanka to assist the country in finalizing work on new legislative provisions which put the country in a better position to implement the Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) to which it is a Party, and to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The mission took place from the 20 – 27 March 2023.

During this week, the FAO team and the Legal Drafting Committee, constituted by the Sri Lankan Minister of Fisheries, finalized the outstanding legislative provisions of the draft Fisheries Act and the two sets of implementing regulations in respect of the PSMA and conservation and management measures adopted by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) relevant to the country.

The draft Fisheries Act is a very comprehensive and complete set of rules to ensure sustainable fishing, and provides measures to combat IUU fishing effectively.

The FAO team also held bilateral meetings with government officials from relevant agencies involved in the broader system of port State controls, including the merchant shipping administration, customs, navy and the coastguard, with the view to initiating an interagency cooperation mechanism in support of the implementation of the PSMA. Subsequently, a one-day workshop on the interagency arrangement for coordination and information exchange was held.

The FAO team also paid a courtesy call on the Honourable Minister of Fisheries and discussed the importance of accelerating the process for enacting the new fisheries Act and the benefits of having an interagency cooperation arrangement such as a Memorandum of Understanding.

Further activities under the National Strategy Action Plan, including training, were also discussed.

The Secretary to the Ministry, the Director of the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, special advisers to the Minister and senior officials of the department were also present.

FAO provides assistance to Sri Lanka in the context of the Norwegian funded project on responsible use of fisheries and aquatic resources for sustainable development (GCO/GLO/352/NOR).