Alternative resilient livelihood option for fisher-folks tsunami victims

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 replantation
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.
Figure 3: Seaweed raft
Figure 2: Growing in rafts
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: The wooden crab cage
Figure 5: Location of experimental crab cages
Figure 4: Harvested crab
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 6: Galvanized wire mesh cage
Figure 7: Acclimatization process

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

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
% of
# of # of % of Avg. wt at Avg. wt at Avg. wt
Cage #
wt.
stocked Harvested Survival stocking(g) Harvesting(g) gained
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
No. of cages
No. of Kg harvested
Sales
34,450.00
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.
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