CEFAS22-169 Contract for services to support Sri Lanka's shark and ray fisheries and trade

It is estimated that over one-third of sharks and their relatives are threatened with extinction worldwide due to a combined effect of global fishing pressure, conservative life history characteristics, and high market price for the fins of some species. Shark fisheries tend to be diverse and unregulated small-scale fisheries, illegal fishing, non-systematic data collection and high volume of bycatch, presents a challenging management scenario for shark fishing nations. The diversity of species landed makes accurate species identification challenging but vital for their effective fisheries management and conservation.

Requirement:

To support the accurate identification of sharks and their products in Sri Lanka, Cefas requires a Supplier to:

1. Provide fifty sets of three visual identification guides for shark and rays and their products, to customs staff at the border. The Supplier will be provided with the guides and the Supplier will manage the printing and distribution. Guides will be provided and printed in English. The Supplier will identify where, and to who, the guides will be distributed.

2. Train twenty staff (focused on Department for Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DFAR) and National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA)) in a 2-day training event on the identification of protected/regulated and commonly landed elasmobranch species near Beruwela fisheries harbour. Training will be delivered by international expert Rima Jabado, with the aim to improve capacity for species-specific data collection.

3. Map data on elasmobranch fisheries in Sri Lanka through a desk-based scoping study which is validated with key stakeholders at an in-country workshop in Colombo.