Sri Lanka, Aug. 28 -- The Government has decided to sign a regional action plan for the prevention, discouragement and elimination of Illegal, Unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, aimed at restoring depleted fish stocks and strengthening food security, Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath said.

Addressing the weekly Cabinet press briefing yesterday (27) he further stressed, "The initiative follows the international action plan unanimously adopted by member countries of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2001, which set out a global framework to combat IUU fishing. In line with this, Sri Lanka has already prepared its own national action plan to address the issue."

"Taking a step further, member countries of the Inter...