For 50-year-old fisherman Calistus Fernando, life is still not easy two years after the tsunami that destroyed about 24,000 fishing boats and 1 million fishing nets.

I go to the sea by boat for two times each day and I can catch about 30 kilos of fish one day," said Fernando.

Fernando said before the tsunami he could catch about 50 kilos of fish each day.

Before the tsunami I can catch a lot of big fish, but now what I get are only small fish," Fernando said.

Along the beach of Beruwala, a fishing town about 60 km south of the capital Colombo, there is a row of fishing stalls where the fishermen sell their fish to local residents and passengers.

The fisheries industry was one of the sectors that was hardest hit by the tsunami. Of the 150,000 people who lost their livelihood, about 50 percent were employed in the fisheries sector.

In addition to the loss of homes, fishermen also had the additional burden of losing their fishing equipment.

On Dec. 26 2004, the island country lost 75 percent of its fishing fleet in the tsunami, a deathblow to the already poor community.

With the help of the international community, most of the fishermen have got new boats and fishing nets to restore their lives.

Shanti Fernando, chief operating officer of the island country's Reconstruction And Development Agency set up to coordinate the tsunami rebuilding process, said she was satisfied with the recovery of the fisheries industry.

We have been able to provide new boats to 95 percent of people whose fishing boats were completely destroyed in the tsunami while almost all the boats which were partially damaged have been repaired," said Fernando in a earlier interview.

Figures from the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources ministry show that during the first nine months of 2006, Sri Lanka produced 172,460 tons of fish, 74 percent higher than the same period of last year.

A. Hettiarachchi, director general for development in the ministry, said during the tsunami rehabilitation process, there is a rapid growth in the number of fishing boats which has resulted in higher fish production.

However, Fernando said that in some areas, there were more fishing boats than before the tsunami and excessive fishing boats have led to the decrease of income among fishermen.

Fernando also admitted that the security situation in the north-east has slowed down the recovery to a great extent, including the fisheries sector.

Violence has been escalating in the country's north and east since December 2005, with more than 3,500 people being killed. This has also prevented enough assistance from reaching the conflict areas.