Jayakody, D.S. <br/><br/>
Traditional Lagoon Fisheries in Negombo<br/> 

 - Sri Lanka,  1994, 
 - 06p. 
<br/><br/>Negombo lagoon is a bar-built estuary with a surface area of around 3,200 ha. The lagoon has a high productivity (150 kg/ha/year) andis rich in aquatic resources and biodiversity. Fishing takes placeall year roundusing atotal of 22 methods,of which 13 are entirely traditional. The lalter include stakedseine nets, brush piles, cast nets, kadippu nets, angling and scoop nets. Shrimp is the target species of most of these methods. Most of the traditional fishing gear is simply designed, easy to operate, resource friendly and causes little damage to the lagoon environment whereas modem fishing methods are efficient but are not always resource friendly. .Except for the staked seine net and brush pile fisheries, the lagoon fisheries ape open access. Asalmost all traditional fishing methods are confined to the lagoon mouth or to shallow sea grass areas and mangrove fringed banks, it would be difficult lo impose strict regulations preventing fishing in these areas. The capital investment required to enter into fishing activities is low, so it is essential and urgent to bringall lagoon fishermen under a licensing scheme. When the multidisciplinary nature offishing activities and strategies in implementing existing regulations are considered, community based management seems to be well suited to the Negombo lagoon ecosystem.