Abstract:
An extra 30–40 million tonnes of food fish will be
required by 2050 to meet the increasing need for a growing
population. In the wake of plateauing of the traditional food
fish supplies from marine capture fisheries, the gap in the
supplies will have to be met from aquaculture and other plau-
sible strategies, including increased inland fish production.
The existing fisheries in tropical reservoirs and lakes tradition-
ally tend to target only table-sized fish, often exotics and/or
translocated species, using a single type of gear, mostly gill
nets. In such fisheries, many small indigenous species (SIS)
are unexploited due to the prohibition of the use of
suitable fishing gear. The status of fisheries for small,
indigenous species of four Sri Lankan reservoirs was
investigated with a view to identifying regulatory con-
straints to the establishment of SIS fisheries without
adversely impacting existing commercial fisheries. It is
estimated that a potential of 7.5 t per fisher per annum
of SIS through the introduction of a new fishery is
obtainable. This study is significant as SIS are recog-
nized as important sources of essential macro- and
micronutrients which can play a crucial role in combating
malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies in rural popula-
tions of many South and Southeast Asian countries.