Abstract:
Responsible fishing is a concept developed towards a sustainable fishing as it is believed that world fisheries sector will collapse during this century if the vigorous fishing level is not controlled. Accordingly it is decided to allow only the fishing activities that are regulated, reported and not illegal. This has been internationally agreed and countries should make sure to avoid IUU fishing in their respecting fishing zones. Regional resolutions related to IUU fishing is developed by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) who is responsible for the international fisheries activities in the Indian Ocean region. Sri Lanka has to comply these resolutions as a member country of the IOTC. Fishermen especially the Multiday Fishermen who are operating in international waters have the ultimate responsibility to comply these resolutions. This research reviews a case study on the fishermen of Beruwala- kalutara to evaluate response to the international resolution on responsible fishing. Sample was selected from multiday boat owners, skippers, crew members and other related fisheries service providers in the multiday fishing sector by the stratified random sampling technique. Minimum sample size was determined by "moving average method". Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. Data were analyzed by comparing the "Likert scale" to identify the level of agreement of the fishermen on several statements related to the responsible fishing through One Way Analysis Of VariAnce (ANOVA) on 95% confidence interval was used to compare the results within strata. According to the results, the mean likert value is 3.61 which show the knowledge as a community is relatively in average; level about the international resolutions. But ANOVA results were shown significance differences between the strata for some responses. However it is important to increase the attitude, awareness and behaviors of fishermen on the international resolutions further.
Keywords: Responsible fishing, Illegal Unreported Unregulated (IUU) fishing, Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), International Resolutions
