"Indian fishing boats stole their fish, Chinese companies are ..."

Hong Kong's "South China Morning Post" September 4th article, original topic: With the fish that stole Sri Lanka with India's trailer net fishing boat, Chinese sea cucumber companies are providing a lifeline

At 7 am, in the northern province, which was suffered from the war in Sri Lanka, Lhasharatan pushed his 15 -foot -long wooden boat to the seaside with the help of young fishermen. The 70 -year -old man rowed the boat for about an hour and finally caught a few catfish. He planned to sell them with 700 Sri Lankan (about 13.5 yuan) in the local fish market. 1 hour is the limit that he can bear the tired arms. "I can't drive my motor boat to go to the sea. So it is impossible to travel too far," he said, now he is fishing only twice a week.

As Sri Lanka was trapped in a serious economic crisis, fishermen were first affected by the extreme shortage of fuel. Fuel is not the only problem facing fishermen. In the past 20 years, more and more Indian vessels have entered Sri Linghai illegal fishing. "Just when we were trapped in the family's lack of kerosene, Indian fishermen were plundering all our resources," he said. The person in charge of the local fishermen cooperatives said that since the arrival of Indian fishing vessels, they can only catch one or two kilograms of fish each time in the past 10 years, and they used to reach 6 to 8 kilograms before. The Sri Lanka has tried to curb the Indian fish, but all ended in failure.

Against this background, a Chinese company stepped on the stage. As part of the cooperation between the Guilan sea cucumber farm and the Sri Lanka National Aquatic Development Agency, more than 1,000 Sri Lankan is now breeding sea cucumbers. Stephen Palace, a partner from Taiwan, said that the company provides farmers with a 60 -day -old sea cucumber seedlings, each weighing 1 gram and the unit price is 60 rupees. "Farmers, including some fishermen, raised them for 10 months, until each weighing about 250 grams, and then sold to exporters at a price of 1,500 rupees," said the palace. " Raise a few months until we weigh 500 grams each, and sell it at a price of about 3,000 rupees. "

In 2021, Sri Lanka exported about 336 tons of sea cucumber to Singapore and China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan. This year, the Sri Lanka approves more than 5,000 acres of sea cucumber commercial projects in the northern and east of the country. Tivgaland, the head of the Javner Sea Cucumber Association, said that sea cucumber farming brings a line of hope to fishermen who suffer serious losses. "Every year, a sea cucumber farmers can earn 1 million rupees, but a fisherman can only earn 480,000 rupees, and when the current economic situation and Indian dragging fishing boats seem unstoppable, they may not have earned these Money. "He said that since last year, 300 fishermen have changed to raise sea cucumbers.

Author Sonia Saka, translated by Wang Huicong

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