Sri Lanka is blessed with a magnificent coastal belt that serves as a tourist attraction and a source of numerous livelihoods in the coastal fishery. The wealth of our marine resources extends way beyond the coastal belt, leaving us with an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 517,000 km2 in the Indian Ocean. On the other hand, a legacy of inland water reservoirs, fabulous river systems, picturesque estuaries and the life in these freshwater, brackish water and marine habitats, all add to this wealth of aquatic resources. The majority of these aquatic resources are largely untapped and are yet to be explored. In a knowledge-based bioeconomy, it is high time to identify, understand and work toward the sustainable utilization and management of our aquatic bioresources. The Department of Aquatic Bioresources (ABR) was established to meet this objective. The undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes of the Department are expected to cater a broader spectrum of career interests both in the marine sector as well as in the inland water sectors. The Department is also involved in conducting research and dissemination of novel knowledge in diverse fields of aquatic bioresources.
