Sri Lankan Fishermen Resume Work ff

He still fears the sea, but Rupasingo Rodrigo has finally resumed fishing.

Almost a month after tsunami hit the shores of Sri Lanka killing over 38,000 people, many of the devastated fishermen are beginning to stir again. Rodrigo was the captain of the first fishing boat to restart work after the fateful Dec 26 disaster from Beruwala harbor, some 60 km off Colombo. Rodrigo, whose six-meter fiberglass canoe suffered only minor damage in the gigantic tidal waves, told: “I have to resume fishing. It is my only occupation.”

About 22,000 of the country’s total 30,000 fishing boats were destroyed in the tsunami. Nearly 7,500 fishermen were killed while another 5,000 are missing.

”I have a family to take care of. I will not quit fishing because the sea erupted once,” said Rodrigo, 46. Not all fishermen in Beruwala share Rodrigo’s worldview. Of the 500 fishing boats registered at the state-run Beruwala Fishery Harbor Corp, 170 were damaged, 15 of them irreparably.

D.M. Dissanayake, manager of the harbor, said some 40 damaged boats might restart business in one month. Of the 12 national harbors, 10 were struck by the tsunami. Two piers at Beruwala harbour were smashed and a fuel tank was destroyed. The tidal waves have cast a deep shadow in the fishermen's hearts. Some of them are afraid to go back to the sea.

Fisherman Raljidh Silva, 54, said: "When I saw the first wave I grabbed my family and we started running. We were saved but we lost everything. “I have never seen the sea so angry in 30 years of fishing. For the first time in my life, I'm scared of it.” But Dissanayake said that many fishermen were eager to restart their business as soon as possible. “They are all too familiar with the sea. It can scare them once but not forever,” he said.