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The total production of tuna and tuna like species of Sri Lanka in year 2017 was 110, 721t. 85% of the catch was
from the EEZ. Skipjack tuna dominated the catch amounting to 39,556t. 34% of the catch is Yellow fin tuna
(37,972t) and 5% was bigeye tuna. The bill fish were the second most group which contributed 16% to the catch
where sword fish dominate in the catch. The shark catch was 1764t. Legal ban on catching of certain species of
sharks has reduced shark catches. Over 4000 multi day boats engaged in large pelagic fishing. Out of the authorized
vessels 1374 were active at high seas however most of the catch is from the EEZ. Almost all high seas vessels
are within the range of 10- 15m in length. 1461 numbers of vessels fitted with VMS and monitored by land based
FMC. VMS is mandatory for high seas fishing.Long line and gill net are the major fishing gears used. 34%of vessel
operated for tuna are dedicated long liners and 28% are gillnetters. Measures are underway to restrict the use of
large gill nets within EEZ. 100 multi purpose mechanised boats were made exclusively deep sea long liners by
installing winch and better cooling systems. High fuel cost has restricted the vessel operations and mostly kept
anchored. The VMS data are being used to crosscheck the accuracy of position data provided in the logbooks.
Electronic catch data recording is being carried out at pilot scale. On board observers were deployed in all possible
vessels. Port State Measures legalized andE-PSM application is followed. The coverage of coastal data collection
expanded.
