A crew-based observe programme has been implemented by the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources since 2018, with technical assistance from pelagikos pvt ltd and financial assistance from SEAPACT, Seafood Exporters’ Association of Sri Lanka and Oceans5/Blue Resource Trust.

More than 150 skippers and crew-members have been trained and provided with equipment to improve the live-release of mammals, turtles, protected shark species and other species of unwanted bycatch, since 2021. Videos of the live-release of unwanted bycatch caught accidentally by multiday fishing boats operating within and beyond Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone can be found under each of the four categories shown below. Details of the skippers who live-released each animal are shown above the video.