BOBP-IGO PRESENTS A REGIONAL TOOLKIT TO MANAGE SHARED RESOURCES IN PALK BAY
Dr. P. Krishnan, Director, participated in the Civil Society Workshop on the Development of a National Plan of Action for the SSF Guidelines and Small-Scale Fisheries in Sri Lanka, held on 26 October 2026 at the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) Auditorium in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Addressing the ICSF-led consultation, Dr Krishnan thanked ICSF for keeping fishers’ voices at the centre of the Palk Bay debate for two decades. He said BOBP-IGO is providing technical support to Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Fisheries and DFAR, working alongside FAO, NARA, NAQDA and the universities, to put the FAO SSF Guidelines into practice through a national plan of action.
BOBP-IGO, as a regional Secretariat, helped in preparing a revised intervention logic with eight intervention areas covering tenure and participation, sustainable resource management, social protection, value chains, gender and youth, climate resilience, policy coherence and capacity development.
Emphasising that the NPOA-SSF will not solve the Palk Bay conflict alone, but it builds the foundations any lasting solution needs: an organised voice for fishers, sustainable management, support for affected households and shared evidence for bilateral talks between India and Sri Lanka.
He outlined the regional initiatives BOBP-IGO can bring to the table: a pilot shared-stock management effort for the green tiger shrimp, the BOB-SAN stock assessment network, BIMReN research collaboration between Indian and Sri Lankan institutions, and the Bay of Bengal RPOA-IUU for rule-based, humane management in place of arrests-driven management. He described these as a staircase from evidence to enforcement for the Palk Bay.
Dr Krishnan reaffirmed BOBP-IGO’s commitment to a fair, evidence-based and humane solution in the Palk Bay, and invited ICSF and all partners to work with BOBP-IGO, especially in bringing fishers’ voices into the district consultations
and regional dialogue.
#SmallScaleFisheries #SSFGuidelines #SriLanka #PalkBay #SustainableFisheries #FisheriesGovernance #RegionalCooperation #ICSF #NAFSO #FSSF
