As reported here on the web earlier this year, two IFL staff went to Sri Lanka last May under the auspices of the Icelandic International Development Agency (ICEIDA) to assess the quality of fishing ports in that country and the purpose was to prepare courses to address these issues. in a better state. ÞÞSÍ's newsletter reports that the first course was recently held there.
In a news item on the IFL website th. On 5 July, the trip of Birna Guðbjörnsdóttir and Sveinn V. Árnason to Sri Lanka in May was announced, who went to get acquainted with the situation and make an assessment of the improvements that should be made in the quality of ports and fish processing in Sri Lanka. The result of that trip was the recently held course.
According to Árni Helgason, ICEIDA's Regional Director for Sri Lanka, quality degradation is a major problem in the Sri Lankan fishing industry, but it is estimated that 30-40% of catch is spoiled from the time fish is caught until it reaches the consumer's table. "Loss of value and reduced nutritional value are a lot of these reasons," says Árni, in an interview on ICEIDA's website.
The course, which IFL took part in preparing, consists of 16 lectures on various aspects of the quality of fish products and the organization of good treatment of fish in port areas. The study material was published in English, Sinhala and Tamil, which are the languages spoken in Sri Lanka. Posters were made on sinhala and Tamil and will be hung up in port areas and landing stations to promote and remind the importance of good treatment of fish.
See more about the course on the website of the Marine Research Institute of Sri Lanka (NARA).