Assessment of Amblygaster sirm fishery in Sri Lanka: A Bio-Economic Analysis

Amblygaster sirm is a major fishery species in the coastal fisheries of Sri Lanka, particularly in the eastern coastal fisheries districts, especially the Kalmunai Fisheries District. Majority of fishers in the district are small-scale and depend on one-day fishing operations. However, inadequate biological and economic assessments hinder proper management of the fishery. Therefore, major objective of the study was to estimate the bio-economic reference points of the Amblygaster sirm fishery in the district. This study used 20-year time series (2000–2020) of catch and effort data for three types of boats categories. The Gordon-Schaefer bioeconomic model was used in this study to estimate reference points, namely Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY), Maximum Economic Yield (MEY), and Open Access Equilibrium (OAE). The results found that MSY was 4,041.14 metric tons at an effort level of 6357 thousand hours, while MEY was 3,603.85 metric tons at 4265 thousand hours. In comparison, the OAE was estimated at 7,207.70 metric tons at 8531 thousand hours. The findings suggest that the current fishing effort remains below MSY, pointing to an underexploited fishery. However, evidence suggests that unmanaged fishery, rising input costs, and illegal unreported and unregulated fishing threaten to the sustainable fishing operation in the district. The analysis highlights the need for goal-based policy measures namely effort management, comanagement at the community level, and improved monitoring systems to avert biological and economic inefficiencies.