Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has tabled the relevant cabinet paper dated 14 October.

It says an action plan is being implemented for the removal of the ban imposed in January 2015 as a result of Lankan fishermen not following international fisheries regulations.

Fine of five-times the value of catch

The cabinet-approved punishment for errant fishermen is a fine that is five-times the value of their catch.

When jdslanka.org contacted Lanka Fisherfolks Trade Union president Aruna Roshantha, he alleged the government’s intention was to protect large-scale fishermen and the politicians responsible for the EU ban.

Roshantha said it was not the fault of fishermen that a ban had been imposed.

Ex-minister responsible

Former fisheries minister Rajitha Senaratne is responsible, as it was him who had signed agreements with Chinese fishing firms to allow their multiday fishing craft to enter the Sri Lankan and international waters.

Those Chinese craft had violated all the international conventions, but what the EU did was to ban Sri Lanka’s fish products, which impacted the average fisherfolk, not the big scale businessmen or politicians, said Roshantha.

He went onto say that the fisheries ministry has not made the fisherfolk aware of this action plan.

Prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and other government authorities have been saying that they wanted to get the ban removed before the end of this month.

Meanwhile, Fisheries Resources Department director general Christy Lal Fernando has told the media that 35 of the 36 requirements to get the ban removed have now been fulfilled.