Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2017-10-03

Vesting the fishery anchorages with the Ceylon Fishery Harbours Corporation

- About 48 anchorages are operating in the coastal stretch in this country and these anchorages, provide facilities for approximately 27,000 fishing boats engaged in coastal fishing. These anchorages need to be improved with advanced facilities for unloading and auctioning fish and the capacity of utilizing the post harvest technology, in order to create new economic opportunities, encourage investments and enhance the productivity of coastal fishing. A proper management structure needs to be established in respect of the anchorages under the supervision of the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, for the purpose.

Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. Mahinda Amaraweera, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development, to vest the responsibility of management, regulation, maintenance and development of the anchorages, with the Ceylon Fishery Harbours Corporation which is equipped with sufficient physical and human resources for the purpose, was approved by the Cabinet.