BD, Sri Lanka to jointly catch Tuna fish in Bay

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Syful Islam Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will soon start catching Tuna fish jointly in the former's extended economic zone (EEZ) water territory of the Bay of Bengal, officials said Sunday. To this effect, the two counties will sign a framework agreement concerning cooperation in long line fishing technique for harvesting one of the costly fishes of high demand. A Bangladeshi delegation comprising government and private sector people will visit Sri Lanka next week to finalise the framework and modalities of the proposed cooperation. Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdul Latif Biswas visited Colombo in July this year where he discussed matters relating to the cooperation with his counterpart Dr Rajitha Senaratne. In the meeting with Dr Senaratne, the Sri Lankan minister offered Bangladesh assistance to acquire technical know-how for long line fishing. Dr Biswas has already got cabinet nod to take assistance from Sri Lanka for fishing of Tuna in the Bay. Fisheries ministry officials said despite immense prospect of catching Tuna fish and earning a substantial amount of foreign currency through its export, Bangladesh could not cash in on the scope as it has no equipment required for this purpose and has not registered with the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC). They said Tuna fish is the main foreign currency earner for the island state of Maldives. Sri Lanka catches some 125,000 tonnes of Tuna fish yearly. During the first six months of 2011, Vietnam exported nearly 45,000 tonnes of Tuna worth $ 206.5 million to 81 countries and territories worldwide. Japan is the main consumer of Tuna fish while its market is rapidly growing to USA, UK, EU, China and France. The typical Tuna price at Tokyo fish markets is nearly $ 25 per pound while its record-setting price rose to about $ 526 per pound. The fisheries ministry officials said Tuna fish can be a very potential export item for Bangladesh if the government gives proper importance to it. Sources said the fisheries ministry officials sent a proposal to the ministry of finance two years back seeking some $ 12,000 as membership fee for IOTC. The finance ministry is yet to give its approval in this connection. Fisheries ministry joint secretary Shamsul Kibria, who will lead the delegation to Colombo, told the FE that Tuna is a deep-sea fish. To catch this fish fishermen need 'long liner' trawler for which Bangladesh is yet to issue licence. He said: "Until now we are issuing licence for mid-water trawlers which are allowed to go up to 200 metres. But most of them go up to 100 metres of the ocean and fail to catch various types of high-price fishes." "We are losing a substantial amount of money for failure to catch high-price Tuna fish," he said adding, "The IOTC has informed that unless Bangladesh acquires long liner trawlers and other equipment, they won't issue quota in favour of us." Mr Kibria said: "We don't want to lose the scope anymore. So we are going to collaborate with Sri Lanka for catching Tuna." There are over 23 species of Tuna fish. The IOTC has the mandate to manage the Tuna fishes like Yellowfin Tuna, Skipjack, Bigeye Tuna, Albacore Tuna, Southern Bluefin Tuna, Longtail Tuna, Kawakawa, Frigate Tuna, Bullet Tuna, Narrow-barred Spanish Mackere, Indo-Pacific King Mackerel, Indo-Pacific Blue Marlin, Black Marlin, Striped Marlin, Indo-Pacific Sailfish, and Swordfish. Since 1940, global Tuna catches have grown from 300,000 tonnes a year to over 4.5 million tonnes a year.