Brackish-water fishery resources

Ceylon has about 300,000 acres of coastal brackish-water areas of which about 100,000 acres constitute shallow lagoons, tidal flats, mangrove swamps and saline marshes, and the rest deeper lagoons and estuaries. While the former represent a vast potential resource with regard to fish farming, the latter are the sites of important fisheries. W. H. Schuster (1951) estimated the average natural production of Ceylon’s brackish waters to be less than 20 lbs. per acre per annum. Since then estimates have been made by the author for a rich lagoon, the Negombo lagoon, a poorly productive lagoon, the Ratgama lake (Dodanduwa) and studies are in progress of some of the other lagoons. The natural production of the Ratgama lake was estimated in 1959 to be 18.5 lbs. per acre per annum while that of Negombo lagoon was estimated in 1960 to be 65 lbs. per acre per annum. It is reasonable to estimate the average production of Ceylon's brackish-waters to be 25 lbs. per acre per annum. Thus the total production is about 3,350 tons per annum. Considering the fact that the island's present total production is 90,000 tons per annum, the brackish-waters contribute 3.7% of it. Schuster (1951) further states that the natural production in the brackish-waters of other countries is around 80 lbs. per acre per annum. In order to increase our average natural production to this value it would seem necessary to consider the nature, biology and fish resources of the brackish-waters and draw some conclusions with regard to their proper exploitation.