By Vidusha Sirimanne
On the 20th of May 2021, X-press Pearl, a cargo vessel sailing near the western coast of Sri Lanka caught fire due to a nitric acid leak. More than 50 billion plastic pellets were spilled into the Sri Lankan waters along with other hazardous chemicals, poisoning marine species and devastating the economy of the fisherman in the western coast. This became known as “Sri Lanka’s worst marine ecological disaster”. To prevent further harm, the government imposed an 80 km ban of fishing spanning from Negombo to Kalutara due to fears of contaminated fish entering the local market.
More than a year since the catastrophic incident, compensation payments have been made, initially covering a total of Rs.683 million. In addition, another Rs. 911 million was issued as compensation on 27th August 2022. The payment has been confirmed by the ministry of fisheries and will be distributed to the 15,032 fisherman who were affected by the X-Press Pearl disaster and fishing ban which caused a loss of daily income for months. So far, the money has been received by the impacted fisherman who were awarded a monetary sum of Rs.80,000 to Rs.240,000. However, this does not compensate for the environmental damage and the loss of marine life as there are irreversible consequences that cannot be entirely estimated.
Mariculture, commonly known as marine farming, is a specialised subset of aquaculture, that is practiced in seawater habitats and lagoons as opposed to in freshwater aquaculture. Fish like sea bream, cod, halibut, and sea bass are examples of products cultivated through mariculture. It accounts for about 40% of the world’s aquaculture production.
From the shallow seagrass beds of the Indian Ocean, and vivid reefs of coral triangle to sandy coasts of the Eastern Pacific, seven different species of sea turtles swim through our ocean waters. Today Sea turtles are being completely erased from some parts of the planet and pushed to the verge of extinction. Nearly all seven existing species of sea turtles are now classified as endangered, with three of them being critically endangered.
In recent times, the planet’s temperatures have been rising at an alarming rate, which imposes a threat to mankind.
