Traditional Practices of Inland Fishery Resources Management in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka: Implications for Sustainability

Abstract

Fishery in the village irrigation-tanks has long played an important role as a source of food in the traditional villages in the Dry Zone comprising two-thirds of the area of Sri Lanka. Therefore, the villagers have traditionally developed various management practices which lead to sustainable utilization of fishery resources. This study is an attempt to explore such practices pertaining to fishery in the irrigation systems in the traditional villages and to investigate their relevance to designing appropriate resource-management systems leading to ecologically sustainable development. The study indicates that the traditional practices which contribute to the sustainable utilization of fishery resources are fourfold: (1) ecological, (2) technological, (3) institutional, and (4) cultural.The ecological set-up of the irrigation system of any given traditional village has evolved in such a way that it could facilitate the survival of fishes during the dry season, which is the major threat to their continuous survival. Though all small tanks dry out during the dry season, small amounts of water remain in some big tanks. As all tanks in any given catchment area are interconnected, the fishes remaining in the big tanks can migrate to the small tanks at the beginning of the rainy season and so re-colonize them. While the buffalo wallow which is located at the lower end of the paddy tract acts as a drought refugium, the natural vegetation-cover associated with the irrigation system provides food, a favourable microclimate, and materials required for the construction of nests by those fishes that make them.

Evaluation of Community Participation for the Development of Culture-Based Fisheries in Village Reservoirs of Sri Lanka

“…Historically, village reservoirs belong to the state or to the temple, but some may be owned privately (Seneviratne, 1989). Village reservoirs can be considered a communal property because only the families living within the village have the right to utilize resources in a village reservoir (Mills, 1933;Ulluwishewa, 1995) a situation similar to those reported by Berkes & Farvart (1989) and Lobe & Berkes (2004).…”

“…These small village reservoirs are positioned within well-defined small watersheds and distributed across the dry zone of the country (Panabokke, 2001) to irrigate agricultural land (De Silva, 1988). These ancient reservoirs support the rural economy by irrigating paddy lands, for grazing grounds for cattle and water buffalo, animal husbandry, and for subsistence fisheries (Ulluwishewa, 1995). Being a communal resource, village reservoirs are managed by a village assembly with the right to utilize these fishery resources (Ulluwishewa, 1995).…”

“…These ancient reservoirs support the rural economy by irrigating paddy lands, for grazing grounds for cattle and water buffalo, animal husbandry, and for subsistence fisheries (Ulluwishewa, 1995). Being a communal resource, village reservoirs are managed by a village assembly with the right to utilize these fishery resources (Ulluwishewa, 1995). The farmers who occupied land irrigated from the reservoirs have a tradition of working in groups on various agriculture activities (Siriweera, 1994), and collective fishing has been under the control of the village irrigation leader (Ulluwishewa, 1995).…”

“…Being a communal resource, village reservoirs are managed by a village assembly with the right to utilize these fishery resources (Ulluwishewa, 1995). The farmers who occupied land irrigated from the reservoirs have a tradition of working in groups on various agriculture activities (Siriweera, 1994), and collective fishing has been under the control of the village irrigation leader (Ulluwishewa, 1995).…”

Processes of wetland loss in India

“…Conversely, in some regions devoid of wetlands, the construction of fish ponds for private use or the diversion of water for rice culture appear to have improved ecological values by adding a component of habitat diversity to the landscape. In the dry regions of neighbouring Sri Lanka, linked complexes of rain catchments, rice paddy fields and buffalo wallows support fish populations that traditional villagers depend upon (Ulluwishewa 1995).…”