By Samantha Perera
Chinese investments in sea cucumber farming in Sri Lanka’s northern districts of Jaffna and Kilinochchi have cost the fishing community their livelihoods. The incumbent government has handed over some of the sea cucumber projects to Chinese investors. Tragically, the government has sidestepped the local fishing community and their point of view. This has led to serious concerns amongst the local population.
Chinese interest in sea cucumbers arises from the fact that they are a delicacy in China and there is a ready market. Sea cucumber is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat fatigue, impotence, constipation, frequent urination, and joint pain. Thus, China has entered another area of Sri Lanka’s economy with consequences for local employment and livelihood.
In mid-2022, Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers approved and allocated 5,000 acres for sea cucumber projects in four districts, namely Jaffna, Mannar, Kilinochchi and Batticaloa in the north and east. The move follows Sri Lanka’s breakthrough in the international market for sea cucumbers. The initiative in this regard was taken by Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda, who represents the Jaffna district in Parliament. Devananda represents the Eelam People’s Democratic Party, a paramilitary organization which remains close to the Rajapakse’s (Tamil Guardian, 18 April 2022).
He has been rewarded several times with ministerial posts for his loyalty to Mahinda Rajapakse and runs extensive business operations in the Northern Province.
The National Aquatic Development Authority, an institution under the Fisheries Ministry played a lead role in the project. Douglas Devananda explained to the Indian newspaper, The Hindu that the country needed both investment and technology to go forward. He had been trying for several years to obtain the necessary technical know–how to proceed with the matter. Finally, he approached a Chinese company. Devananda told The Hindu(2 September 2022) that he would “not compromise India’s security or allow any threat to India’s security concerns. This was after India expressed concern about the project’s proximity to its southern coast.Earlier, Sri Lanka had suspended a Hybrid Energy system to be built in three northern islands of Sri Lanka by a Chinese high-tech renewable energy company after India lodged a strong protest on the award of a tender to a Chinese company owing to security concerns. Devananda was also optimistic that sea cucumber projects would bring jobs locally and he believed that it would not harm the local fishermen and their livelihoods. Pungudutivu, where the farm is being proposed, is near Nainativu. This is one of the three islands Sri Lanka cleared for a Chinese renewable energy project.
The Chinese Embassy in Colombo told The Hindu newspaper that no information had been received yet on a Chinese company investing in a sea cucumber farm. This is on a small island off the coast of Jaffna. An Embassy spokesman claimed, “It could be a private company negotiating on a commercial basis”. However, pointing to an existing joint venture between a Chinese firm and Sri Lanka, in the coastal village of Ariyalai in Jaffna, the Chinese official said “it has created about one thousand jobs for nearby villages. Last year, it provided 500,000 sea cucumber seedlings to local farmers for free and nearly one million dollars were brought in.” Sri Lanka has exported around 330 metric tonnes of sea cucumber to China, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
Local fishermen who opposed the fencing of farms off some areas bordering the sea and limiting access to even local fishermen were vocal opponents of another Chinese project in the neighbouring Kilinochchi district last year, according to The Hindu.“We were upset because they weren’t consulting us, and we saw that the company was advertising a hatchery while really fishing sea cucumbers in our waters,” the group said. According to K. Baheerathan of the Koutharimunai Fishermen’s Association, “That sort of massive capture on a regular basis can significantly destroy our marine resources.” In addition, the sea cucumber farming projects could create problems for the ecological balance of the area fishermen complain about. Only about 4,000 sea cucumbers can be bred at a given time in one acre of coastal waters. The recent sea cucumber farm boom in the Jaffna lagoon has attracted many investors.
According to locals, the project will have a severe impact on their livelihoods, marine ecosystems, and traditional lands where they colonised. As a result of the proliferation of sea cucumber farms, about 3,200 families of small-time fishermen face a bleak future. Annalingam Annaaras, the president of the Jaffna Fisheries Federation, was quoted by the Indian media as having said “We recognise the need for investment in our war-affected region, but the sea cucumber farms are mainly for exports. They will only bring more harm than benefit to those of us living here.” They worry that the focus will be more on commercial endeavours that would negatively impact the regional marine ecosystem. This is essential to the way of life of residents.
In Sri Lanka, Aquatech International Company launched a project for commercial seed production of sea cucumber. It is the first commercial hatchery established in Sri Lanka. This company has been breeding sea cucumber seeds since 2015. The hatchery is located at Ambakandawila, in Chilaw. They were producing advanced juveniles in nursery ponds at Muthupanthiya, also located off Chilaw. This hatchery and nursery ponds are supervised by the National Aquaculture Development Authority. More recently, the fishermen community in the Northern Province expressed their concern about a Chinese firm investing in a sea cucumber project in Pungudutivu, off the Jaffna Peninsula.
With the support of the Sri Lankan government, the Chinese joint venture company, Gui Lan (Pvt) Ltd, established an artificial breeding production facility (hatchery) in Jaffna’s coastal village of Ariyalai in April 2016, to provide the necessary juvenile cucumbers stock to support a thriving and sustainable industry which can uphold local community’s livelihood hit hard by illegal Indian fishing. Gui Lan’s operation involves the hatchery and the nursery to meet the locals’ demands and is not engaged in farming. Gui Lan (Pvt) Ltd is a pioneer in mass-producing juvenile sea cucumbers in Sri Lanka using an artificial spawning technique. Since starting production, Gui Lan (Pvt) Ltd nursed baby animals for up to four months before they were sold to commercial farms run by locals throughout the entire year. In December 2021, the Chinese Ambassador in Colombo had visited cucumber farming projects in which Chinese investors have shown interest. Signalling to India, the Chinese Ambassador also paid a visit to a South Indian temple in Jaffna.
The country reeling under an unprecedented economic downturn was desperate to find dollars to stabilise its battered economy. In that context, the Sri Lankan government identified that sea cucumber has the potential for both, foreign investment, and exports. As a result, breeding and selling the sausage-shaped marine animal, considered a delicacy in China and Southeast Asia has become a lucrative business at the expense of the livelihood of local fishermen. Pertinently, locals do not consume sea cucumbers. In 2021, statistics show that Sri Lanka earned a considerable amount of foreign exchange through sea cucumber exports.Thus, China has entered into Sri Lanka again, this time quietly, in the Northern Province. India is alive to the threat this poses and has made its position clear. The question is, Sri Lanka is listening?
Source: https://earthjournalism.net/stories/sea-cucumber-farming-spells-death-to-traditional-coastal-fishing-in-northern-sri-lank
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/beijing-bares-it-in-jaffna-warms-up-to-tamils-in-sri-lanka-7676867/
Source: https://www.dailymirror.lk/news-features/Chinese-Investment-in-Sea-Cucumber-Farm-in-Sri-Lanka-also-a-Threat-to-Indian-Security/131-247136
https://www.sundaytimes.lk/220911/news/indian-criminal-trade-thrives-re-exporting-sea-cucumber-via-colombo-494749.html