Challenges faced by the rural fishing community: a sociological study based on Nachchikuda Village

Abstract

Fishing is the main industry which exist all around the globe and Sri Lanka also famous for its coastal areas which is the major source of livelihood for many economies even today. Fishery sector is one among those growing sector that contributes a decent part of revenue for the nation. But natural hazards, climate change etc are becoming a major cause of depletion in this sector. In this context this paper aims to find out the major challenges in the fisher community in the Nachchikuda village. The study was undertaken in the Nachchikuda village which located under the Poonakary Pradesiya Saba in Kilinochchi district of Northern Province. This study followed qualitative data collection method. Primary data collected through semi-structured interviews that were conducted in both face to face and phone conversation with selected samples.Purposive sampling was conducted to collect the data. Key informants interviews were conducted from Grama Niladhari (GN) and head of the Rural Development society. The secondary data were collected from the report of Poonakary Divisional Secretariat office, journals, published books and internet sources. The researchers found the challenges as social and economic challenges. As social challenge lower level of livelihood, lack of education, lack of infrastructure, exclusion from the community, lack of social security and welfare and challenge in education and as an economic challenge the researchers found problem with price, scarcity of fisheries and aquatic resources, illegal poaching by Indian boats, challenges with market opportunity, prevalence of poverty and challenges with market opportunities were found in thefishing community of Nachchikuda village. Finally, some policy suggestions given by the researcher to improve the livelihood of the fisher communities.