Alternative resilient livelihood options for fisher folk tsunami victims: special reference to Batticaloa

district of Sri Lanka

Mohamed Harris Jalaldeen Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Eastern University, Sri Lanka

harriseusl@gmail.com, Vinobaba Periyathamby

Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Eastern University, Sri Lanka vinobaba@esn.ac.lk.

Abstract

Fisher folk belongs to east coast of Sri Lanka have been the most affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The aquatic diversity of the region has also been devastated by the tsunami. Mangroves and coral reefs have been relentlessly destroyed, not only taking away the protective barriers from the massive waves but also reduce the coastal breeding grounds for finfish, shellfish and other aquatic organisms. Fisher folk are amongst the poorest people in the region and suffered tremendous loss of life and also devastation to their livelihoods. They are also one of the most negatively affected communities. Many are still fearful of returning to the sea and suffer from extreme post-disaster trauma. Suddenly increase of the post-tsunami restoration programs increases the pressure further on the coastal environment and its resources. The restoration ensures access to more diverse and better targeted credit to fishermen came in light by introducing alternative livelihood options of seaweed farming, crab fattening and milk fish farming in floating cages would be not only re-establishing their livelihood but also alternative to depleting fish from the coastal belt and sea. Moreover enhancement of spawning and feeding grounds by conservation and re-plantation of mangroves is a way to ameliorate an environmental pressure. This project was funded by Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in the name of Tsunami Restore Project from January 2007 to March 2009 in collaboration with Eastern University, South Eastern University, Ruhunu University and Canadian Universities. Through the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) method Paalameenmadu and Puthukudyiruppu were selected as worst tsunami affected areas as project implement sites. The restoration of their livelihoods via community based project was initiated in both villages of Batticaloa District to the fishermen for proper utilization of available resources in their region and along with the increasing opportunity for additional income generation other than fishing in an environmental friendly way.

Keywords: Appraisal, Fisher folk, Resilient, Trauma, Tsunami.

1. Introduction

Livelihoods in coastal areas totally depend on lagoon, coastal, offshore and deep sea fishing. Over the years, there has been a steady increase for the demand for fish protein in the developing country. Sri Lanka is already on the road to maximize aqua-exploitation along with the gold rush started back in 1990s. There is a need for development of an eco-friendly aquaculture industry is urgently needed. Unlike other intensive aquaculture ventures seaweed farming, crab fattening and milk fish farming in cages would be not only a good source of protein, nutrients for human diets and an alternative to the depletion of fish from the sea and thus pave a way to ameliorate an environmental pressure, but also a source of income for fisher folks.

The national knowledge on seaweed farming in Sri Lanka is limited. There this farming carried out only small scale as community based seaweed farming. Seaweed farming could be a source of alternative income for fishermen to that of fishing. The culture period can last for 45 days and it is an environmental friendly farming method (Jayasuriya, 1987). Seaweeds for direct human consumption are worth more than those destined for industrial use. Culturing of the mud crab Scylla serrata is not economical and hence the crab fattening is practiced. The watery crabs at post-molt stage are fetching very low prices in the market and are even rejected in the export market because of their poor meat content. If fattened, they fetch a high price. In order to improve the living conditions of fisher folk and to reduce the pressure in the coastal marine ecosystem, alternative livelihood schemes were introduced to empower the village community especially for the women to earn extra income in their own and to help his her family to enhance their socio-economic status. Crab fattening is much more profitable than any other coastal aquaculture operations currently in practice (Sathiadhas & Najmudeen, 1991).The Crab fattening programme is one of such schemes initiated by the CIDA Restore Project in the Palameenmadu village with support from the Department of Fisheries, Batticaloa.

The Mangrove ecosystem caters several environmental and economical functions to the surrounding peoples directly and indirectly. Supporting rich biodiversity, preventing coastal erosion, sea surge mitigation, facilitating of fish and shellfish spawning are some environmental functions of mangroves (Santharooban and Vinobaba, 2008). Though the mangroves support the community in several ways in Batticaloa district, but it is being continuously destroyed by human anthropogenic effects and other causes. Brackish water aquaculture was initiated very recently as an experimental venture with a view to its promotion. Milkfish (Chanos chanos) is an important food fish. The success of milkfish as a cultured food fish species may be attributed to its ability to tolerate extremes of environmental conditions. These conditions include extremes of temperatures, salinity, dissolved oxygen, ammonia, nitrite, crowding and starvation (Duenas, 1983). Their adaptability to these factors has allowed milkfish culturists to exploit the species by manipulating culture conditions.

1.1 Objective

The main objectives of the study are to assess the growth and production performance in-situ floatinf rafts farming of Gracilaria under different conditions and it can also be ascertain whether the aggregation of herbivorous fish, economic feasibility of mud crab Scylla serrata in wooden cages and initiated milk fish farming Chanos Chanos in cages as brackish water culture among the mangrove vegetation at Paalameenmadu through the CIDA Restore project as an alternative livelihood to the fishermen for proper utilization of available resources in their region, to reduce the pressure in the coastal marine ecosystem and for increasing the opportunity for additional income generation other than fishing.

1.2 Background of the project area

Paalmeenmadu is a small village located about 5 kilometers from the Batticaloa town in East coast of Sri Lanka. Most of the people of the area are engaged in fishing activities. This is one of the most environmentally damaged coastal area of the Batticaloa district by both the Tsunami disaster of December 2004 and the destruction of ecologically sensitive mangrove area due to unplanned developmental activities following Tsunami. Population increases, lack of other employment opportunities, and low literacy level force the local villagers to depend mainly on the fishery resources that can be harvested from the adjoining lagoon nourished with mangrove biota. As most of the fishermen do not have adequate financial support for in board engine boats and deep sea going vessels, they are restricted to coastal areas and the bar mouth area of the lagoon that are easily accessible with small lagoon canoes. Strained by decreasing fish catches, they are often compelled to use more effective and also destructive fishing methods, which reduce the productivity of the coastal resources even further. Over fishing and the use of destructive fishing methods have been prevalent for many years in this village.

2. Materials and Methods

The CIDA Restore project’s implementation sites were Puthukudyiruppu and Paalameenmadu. We did Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and water quality survey to select the most suitable site for farming. According to our survey Paalameenmadu was found to be the most suitable place to implement the project. The inmates around this area were given an awareness program on seaweed farming crab fattening and milk fish farming. We selected the most interested and poorest village folks for farming. Though the maintenance works were carried out by the public the readings were taken down by us. The study was carried out from July 2008 to May 2009. The growth rate was monitored each week and the mean time water quality parameters including salinity, temperature, pH, rainfall, water flow rate, turbidity and dissolved oxygen were measured using calibrated Hanna portable instruments

2.1 Gracilaria farming

Wooden rafts with dimension of 10m X 5m were floated with floats (Figure 1). Coir lines were stretched between the frames and the lines were supported by another lines running perpendicular to the main line. Vegetative cuttings of Gracilaria plants were collected from Sinnakalappu (Ampara District). The average weight of seed stock 20 grams each which is tied to the line at 25cm interval (Figure 2). Grow-out lines were spaced at intervals varying between 0.2 m. Dirt that clings to the seaweeds were removed thrice in a week. Once seaweeds are 2 ½ to 3 months old, we started harvesting them. During the farming time fish in the surrounding area were collected by using fish traps and were identified to the lowest taxonomic level using FAO species identification field guide for fishery purpose of Sri Lanka by George et al., 1994 and Munro, 1955.

2.2 Crab fattening

The crab fattening training programmes were executed for 20 fisher women by our resource persons. After the training programme, each of them were provided with a crab cage measuring 1.5m x 1.5m x 0.5m (Figure 3) and watery crabs weighing more than 400g. The cages were made out of wooden frames with Palmyra petiole basement. This type of cage was designed in an environmentally friendly manner to minimize the physical damages on the crabs and for the reusability of the cages. Crab cages were set up into the shallow water fronts of the Batticaloa lagoon at different location shown in Figure 5. We have selected only 5 cages for our studies out of 20 cages. Each cage was seeded with 10 crablings and trash fish fed at the rate of 10% of the biomass of the crab at two intervals every day. Sampling of crabs was done on a weekly basis. The body weight (BW), carapace length (CL) and percentage of survival crabs were calculated from the total harvest. In our experiment, mean number of crabs surviving and mean number of crabs declined (mortality) were calculated over time (months) in all the five cages. Weights of crabs at the time of harvest were measured from this average weight gained was calculated and percentage weight gain was calculated.

Figure 3: Seaweed raft Figure 2: Growing in rafts

2.3 Milk fish cage culture

Floating cages were constructed in the following dimensions of 3’ x 4’ x 2’. Frame was made out of metal and covered with plastic coated galvanized wire mesh (Figure 6). Fish cages are set up in shallow water at the depth with appropriate floats and anchors. Then the standard length and weight of the fries were measured; before caging the fries permit to acclimate (Figure 7). Every cage is seeded with 30 fingerlings and cages are maintained by the selected families of dirt that cling to the cage was removed on weekly basis by brushing manually to enhance the natural free flow of water for feeding. Weight and standard length of fingerlings along water quality were measured fortnightly. From the average readings obtained from each cages, a final average reading was obtained. After 6 month of farming cycle harvest was made, the weights and standard lengths of fish were measured and results compared with natural fish. In addition, the cost of expenditures of and the income from the milk fish sales were calculated to estimate the net profit per cage.

Figure 5: Location of experimental crab cages

Figure 3: The wooden crab cage

Figure 4: Harvested crab

Figure 7: Acclimatization process Figure 6: Galvanized wire mesh cage

2.4 Statistical Analysis

All statistical analyses were performed using statistical package Minitab 14.0. Pearson correlations were used to evaluate the relation between water quality parameters and growth. Significance was compared using two tail two sample student t-test.

3. Results and Discussion

The trials clearly showed that fisher folk are capable of implementing the technology of Gracilaria farming by them. At 45 days to a month old, branches of seaweeds start to fall off due to the water current. In order to save them from drifting away, nylon net should be placed as a fence around the area that is perpendicular to the water current. There is a strong Pearson correlation between the Growth Rate of Gracilaria and salinity, DO, while no positive correlation found were found between other variables.

Table 1: Summary of the correlation studies between the growth rate and water quality parameters

Parameter

Correlation value

Correlation type

P value

Salinity

0.970

Strong correlation

0.000

Dissolved Oxygen 0.267 Weak correlation 0.402

pH -0.197 Negative correlation 0.539

Turbidity -.0.376 Negative correlation 0.228

* Correlation value - Pearson correlation value, P value – Probability value Sudden change of the salinity affect the growth rate (P<0.05). Gracilaria growth exhibits seasonal variations based on monsoonal effect. The best production was over 1 kg wet weight per meter. The monthly growth rate is ranging from 25% to 70% of the total body mass. The results indicate that Gracilaria has the potential to farm on a commercial scale. At an early stage in the trials, it was apparent that value-added processing would be required to achieve an adequate return on investment. Various technical problems arose during the implementation of the two pilot projects, but information on current experience with Gracilaria production and marketing in our region was not readily available because people prefer imported products. If we implemented proper post harvest and extraction techniques we will pave the way for profiting from this culture. Post harvest activity determines the quality and shelf life of the seaweed, the quality of seaweed was poor due to the lack of knowledge about the way to handle the seaweed culture. They usually just put the seaweed on the sand to dry up. If we give proper training to find better ways to dry the seaweed we

will get much better prices. Exposure to the sun or heat during transport should be avoided to insure the freshness of the produce. During transport, it was not always possible to keep the seaweed wet and cool

Siganus sp is the main grazers and they can literally wipe out Gracilaria culture (Coppen, 1990). However Siganus lineatus and Siganus javus severely grazed Gracilaria and reduced the net harvest. It appears that juvenile Siganus are largely to blame. The fish began entering the plots, as evidenced by grazed seaweed. During our farming period we observed that Siganus were less than 100 g, with the majority below 40 grams. Clearly, the seaweed farms were sited on the feeding grounds of the juveniles of the principal grazing species. Two methods were performed to protect the Gracilaria from Siganus sp were tested in Paalameenmadu. First, a net enclosure was made around the farming area traps. They are placed inside fenced plots. The second method involves making scare lines made of pieces of Palmyrah leaves. However, Siganus sp swam over the scare line and into the farm plot and all the seaweed was eaten by Siganus sp. These scare lines were totally ineffective. But the net enclosure fence had to be buried in the sandy bottom to prevent it from lifting off the bottom by water current and prevent to allowing the entry of grazer. The fence effectively excluded Siganus sp at Paalamenmadu. A few entered under the fence, but could be controlled with traps. It revealed that more trials are to be conducted to find the alternative sites. Small unidentified mollusks were frequently observed on planted lines and could have grazed on the few plants which germinated. During the culture period spores are fell down to the bottom and grew as a new Gracilaria bed and attract more herbivorous fish like Mugil cephalus, and Siganus sp. This will stimulate fish stock to remain hidden. These grounds act as feeding and spawning ground to many fish in this way enhance fish stock as well as it could be maintain ecological balance and dynamics. Assessment of commercial feasibility requires both long-term trials and sufficient production capacity to evaluate economic and technical costs.

The results from crab fattening indicated that the fattening of crabs is possible growth and survival can be achieved through proper management. In this experiment, the mean survival percentage was 88% and mean mortality was 12%. The mortality was at an acceptable level and it was experienced at the initial stages of the fattening. These initial mortalities occurred during the first ten days could be due to a highly stressed new environment and poor handling during collection and transport. In crab fattening systems, mortality may also be caused by poor quality of water at the bottom of the mud. But in the floating cage system, this type of mortalities cannot be expected. Table 2 provides the data regarding the growth, survival, and production of crabs.

Table 2: Growth, survival and production of crabs in the first farming cycle

Cage # # of stocked

# of Harvested

% of Survival

Avg. wt at stocking(g)

Avg. wt at Harvesting(g)

Avg. wt gained

% of wt.

gain C 1 10 10 100 540 915 375 69.44

C 2 10 7 70 580 945 365 62.93

C 3 10 8 80 740 1299 559 75.54

C 4 10 10 100 600 1024 424 70.66

C 5 10 9 90 475 825 350 73.68

In this experiment, individual weight gained during fattening was 414.6 gms for crabs weighing 587gms. These growth increments were seem to be very high in comparison with other studies done by Bensam, (1986), who recorded average monthly increments of 80- 162 gms for crabs of initially weighing 50 gms. Feeding was not a problem during the fattening period because all the crab feed employed such as trash fish, fine pieces of chicken gut wastes, shrimp heads, fish offal and kitchen leftovers were well accepted. The all Feed Consumption Rate (FCR) values for all cages showed values greater than one (Table 3).

Table 3: Feed consumption and Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) for the first farming cycle Cage # Total wt. of feed provided(kg) Total wt. gained(kg) FCR(on wet weight basis)

C 1 16.275 3.570 4.56:1

C 2 14.210 1.925 7.38:1

C 3 15.440 2.352 6.56:1

C 4 16.870 3.150 5.35:1

C 5 14.940 2.412 6.19:1

Maintenance costs of floating crab cages are minimal compared to the fish cages. The crawling of crabs along the wooden poles or side nettings of the cages helps to reduce fouling. Except for attached seaweeds, there is no fouling by barnacles or other organisms. Such organisms probably serve as an alternative food source for the crab.

The net profit of the operation was SL Rs.6388.00 per cage (Table 4). At the same time in our crab fattening programme the beneficiaries were provided with a wooden crab cage costs, Rs.2650.00 and 10 watery crabs with costs of Rs.3000.00. Through the first farming cycle they obtained Rs.5650.00 per cage additionally. This amount of money is enough to establish another cage with watery crabs to continue the next fattening cycle. If one could run about maximum of 10 fattening

cycles in a year the estimated annual income will be Rs.63880.00. This ultimately depends on the effort taken by the individual and the prevailing ecological conditions of the region.

Table 4: Economic analysis for the operation of 5 cages in the first fattening cycle

Particulars Quantity Rate(Rs) Total(Rs)

Expenditures

Wooden cages 5 Nos 2650.00 13,250.00

Cost of Watery crabs 30 kg 600.00 18,000.00

Feed cost 4410.00

Cage repair and maintenance cost 700.00

Harvesting charges 1000.00

Total 37,360.00

Income

Crab sales-1 38kg Rs.1500.00/kg 57,000.00

Crab sales-2 8.2kg Rs.1500.00/kg 12,300.00

Total 69,300.00

Profit( 5 cages) 31,940.00

Profit (1 cage) 6,388.00

In cage, the activities of fish is restricted, therefore the energy loss was low hence the chance of increasing the weight of the fish compared to wild was more, However, cage culture site water quality more or less same for the optimal growth of milk fish. In this experiment, average weight of a harvested fish during farming cycle was 558.5 gm. Initially growth and standard length increment were meager because of the salinity variation in our pond. Initially up to the February salinity varies between the 0 ppt to 5 ppt because of heavy shower. However from the March to May salinity varies between 5 ppt to 15ppt (Table 5). Milk fish is euryhaline fish (Ramanatha and Jaysmaha, 1970) shows optimal growth at higher salinity therefore growth and standard length increment were lower in first 3 months here after weight gain and length were suddenly increasing. In our experiment, the mean survival percentage was 93.33% and mean mortality was 6.67%. The mortality was at an acceptable level and it was experienced at the initial stages of the farming. These initial mortalities occurred during first three months could be due to highly stressed, new environment, salinity changes and poor handling during transport and stocking. It is therefore felt that the survival rate can be improved considerably through better handling, transporting and stocking.

This method was cost effective (Table 6) because this process in entirely on natural food which eliminates the expenditure involved in artificial food supply. As the cage was made up of galvanized wire mesh, the cleaning of debris and seaweed clinked on it be easily removed by manual brushing or spraying high pressure water, which in turn greatly reduces the maintenance cost.

Table 4: Summary of the Readings from December (2008) to May (2009) of Milk fish cage culture Week Average length Average weight Salinity

2

2.56

2.148

1

4 2.68 9.824 1

6 3.16 20.222 1

8 5.80 30.516 2

10 8.32 45.684 2

12 10.36 56.811 5

14 16.00 164.06 9

16 27.94 220.06 7

18 37.68 318.34 12

20 49.42 395.42 12

22 60.50 492.34 11

24 71.64 558.52 15

Table 5: Cost benefit analysis of each cage in the first farming cycle of Milk fish cage culture Description Quantity Rate (Rs) Total (Rs) Profit

Expenditure

Floating cage 5 Nos. 6000.00 30,000.00

Fingerlings 30 fry/cage 15.00 2,250.00

Fertilization 2,200.00

34,450.00

Sales

No. of cages No. of Kg harvested

Cage 1 13.00 750.00/Kg 9,750.00

Cage 2 15.38 11,535.00

Cage 3 18.10 13,575.00

Cage 4 14.73 11,047.50

Cage 5 17.14 12,855.00

58,762.50

For five cages 24,312.50

For one cage 4,862.50

After 6-7 month of culture fish reach 500-600 gms each. Also nearly 15 kg fish can be harvested from each cage which was sold at 750/= per kilo. Cages and fries were supplied by CIDA therefore no expenditure for fisher folks. At off season though the harvests lessen the dried fish fetch a high price in the market thus the economic trend remains same. In Sri Lanka most lagoons are short and seasonal and do not support sustainable fisheries. The best way of overcome this resistance to this innovation is to introduce Milk fish farming gradually, while ensuring that the methods employed were those most certain to achieve positive economic results. If more fish can thus be made available for food, and additional income can be derived too. There are abundant shrimp ponds in the coastal belt of Batticaloa. These ponds also can be utilized for milk fish farming in a productive manner with least cost and also prawn farms or swamps and marshlands can be developed into brackish water productive milkfish ponds. It was characteristic of milkfish that given unfavorable living conditions such as crowding, insufficient food, low water temperature, or low pH, etc., their growth would be slow or non-existent. However, when given good living conditions, the fish would grow faster than their normal growth rate even after having been subjected to those previous unfavourable conditions. This process is called “stunting” (Castanos, 1995).

Biodiversity was impacted in several ways by illegal fishing practices including used undersize mesh net, dynamite fishing, light fishing while shrimp farming practices including destruction of mangrove swamps and pollution of natural water bodies and also our farming site was one of the most environmentally stressed coastal area of the Batticaloa district by both the Tsunami disaster of December 2004 and the destruction of ecologically sensitive (Mangroves) area due to unplanned developmental activities following Tsunami (Santharooban and Vinobaba, 2007). These activities severely impact on milk fish. Above mention activity will pave the path to the loss of important spawning and nursery grounds of milk fish and affects local fisheries resulting in reduced yields for local fishermen. On the other hand destruction of mangroves negatively impacts the milk fish population because of them spend a portion of their lifecycle in mangrove forests.

3.1 Conclusion

This is an environment friendly alternative resilient livelihood option with reasonable income. Initial results were promising the farming will take up on a commercial scale.

3.2 Recommendations

• Any commercial development in this direction needs further studies along with other water quality parameters. These observations call for an immediate focus on the effective monitoring water quality parameters during the farming period.

• Arrangement of marketing facilities.

• Government participation in internal promotional activities.

• Arrangement with the help of international agencies for the training of professional for cage culture and processing techniques

• Research activities to be given importance.

Acknowledgment

We would like to express our profound gratitude to Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) for their financial assistance. We are indebted to convey our heartfelt thanks to the residents of the Paalameenmadu for their kind Corporation and valuable help in various ways to carry out the project work successfully.

References

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