Materials for nine madellas

The materials to make 7 madella for Medaketiya and 2 madella for Kahandamodera have been provided to fishing associations in each village and now 7 are complete and in use. Nine large boats have also been delivered, one for each madella. Madella are giant fishing nets which are laid out on the sea bed and then pulled in by 20 men in the morning with their catch. Each madella and boat supports 30 families and costs between £2000 and £3200. The size of the net depends on the shape of the sea bed in each bay.

The madella have been very successful. One madal owner has made enough money in a few months to rebuild his house and another madal crew sold their catch one day in February for over Rs 300,000 ( over £1500) in Medaketiya.

In Kahandamodera, the madal have been in use since December. One earned Rs 45,500 and the other Rs 56,000 over a three month period. The madal season here is between November and March between the monsoon. They usually go out between 6am and 9am but if the fish are good they take their turn sometimes three times a day.

A madal beach

Fishermen pulling in the madal nets	The madal net full of fish

Each madal fishes from a specific beach and the beach is frenetic when the madal go out. Each Madal team is allocated a time slot and while they prepare to go out to sea, another madal is pulled in with its catch and another is dried, rolled up and stacked ready for use the next day.

Each memeber of the six man team has a job. One guides the boat and the release of the net; two row the boat; two lay the nets and one stays on shore to organise the men who will help to pull the net in. The net is pulled in from both ends with the fish trapped in the middle part of the net. On the day we watched, they caught a large turtle in the nets who was immediately released and helped back to the water.

Once the net is ashore, the buyers come to the beach. About a third of the catch is put to one side for those who helped pull the net in. The remainder of the fish is sold to a trader - the price is vigorously negogiated! The proceeds are spilt between the owner of the net and the main crew. The fish are them packed on ice and carried away on bicycles and in vans.

Senahasa has also delivered materials for 5 kotadella in Medaketiya. Kotadella are smaller nets than madella but are used in the same way. These have all been made and the boats delivered and are now in use during the fishing season.

All projects are:

• Locally identified and managed

• Progressed, working closely with local people

• Planned and executed for rapid impact

• Self sustaining

...Thank you to all our donors for supporting our work in Sri Lanka

The mdal catch being sold on the beach