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CCH – Prioritizing Options for Fish Fingerling Production

Background

The Centre for Coastal Health (CCH) is a non-profit which identifies and understands the interactions of human, animal and environmental health.

Culture based fisheries in Sri Lanka constitute an important livelihood for people living near perpetual and seasonal tanks, providing inexpensive protein, income and employment for rural people.

 

Challenge

Sri Lankan rural communities rely heavily on state sponsored activities for access to fish fingerlings. An effective mechanism is needed to support the existing system of fingerling production to increase culture based fisheries in tanks.

Since resources from national budgets and development partners are generally insufficient to meet all the needs, priorities must be established.

 

Actions

The participatory decision-making process Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) was used, through D-Sight’s collaborative decision-making software solutions and expertise, to determine methods to support and improve fingerling production systems for culture based fisheries in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. Seven alternative production systems were compared and ranked according to their performance and efficiency to reach sustainable development and food security objectives.

 

Results

By using D-Sight Web (the collaborative platform offered by D-Sight), CCH was able to involve all the stakeholders into the decision-making, analyze the different production systems and understand the reasons behind each of the final scores and ranking. Following a data-driven process allowed CCH to conduct the workshops more easily and reach a consensus decision.

The analysis showed that culture based fisheries stakeholders, preferred a National and/or Provincial collaborative approach to breeding and nurturing of fish to the post larvae or fry stage, with post larvae or fry to fingerling rearing being conducted by:

  • National and provincial hatcheries;
  • Community based organizations;
  • Private pond owners.

 

About the Centre for Coastal Health

The Centre for Coastal Health (CCH) is an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to identify and understand the interactions of human, animal and environmental health.

CCH does that by undertaking problem-oriented research, risk assessments, research planning, policy development, field investigations, program evaluations, and education. The CCH provides objective solutions to health issues and does not take advocacy positions. Its projects are funded through competitive grants, contribution agreements with government, and fee-for-service contracts.