Sri Lankan freshwater fishers keen to  turn invasive species threat into an opportunity

DEDURU OYA(Sri Lanka), Nov 13: An invasive fish is threatening the livelihood of people in this northwestern village by aggressively eating traditional fish and shellfish species in the Deduru Oya reservoir, but the Sri Lankan fishers want to turn the adversity into an advantage. Fishermen on the reservoir have noticed over the past two years a dwindling number of the fish they have been typically catching, while the snakehead fish, which have never be seen in Sri Lanka before, have been appearing in droves. The snakehead fish, seen in countries like Thailand and Indonesia, could have arrived in Sri Lanka with imported ornamental fish, local officials said. When they started outgrowing the tanks, it was likely that their owners released them into the reservoir. Dr. Kelum Wijenayak