Abstract:
Inland fisheries is increasingly recognized as an important means of food security, especially in developing countries. In Sri Lanka, there is a great potential for the development of culture-based fisheries because of the availability of more than 12 000 reservoirs throughout the island. Moneragala district is the second largest district of Sri Lanka which consists of numerous seasonal and perennial reservoirs in which 53 of them are directly monitored by government. Present study was conducted at four perennial reservoirs in Monaragala district. The primary objective of the study was assessing fishery management of reservoirs with socioeconomic factors of fishermen. Primary data were collected by using structured questionnaire and interviews with fishermen. And the secondary information was obtained from local fishery authority. Socioeconomic characteristics included demographic characters of fishermen such as age, education level ethnicity, family details etc. and fishery related factors such as income, experience, origin of fishery, craft usage and gear usage. The education level and the income of fishermen in Urusita wewa was higher than other three reservoirs. The income of fishermen was not influenced (P > 0.05) by any socioeconomic factor except the experience (P < 0.01). The experience of fishermen showed a significant positive influence on the income of fishermen. The overall management of culture-based fishery in Urusita wewa was better than other three reservoirs. Further studies are required regarding the stocking and production in particular reservoirs.
Keywords: inland fisheries, culture-based fisheries, socioeconomic characteristics, reservoirs
