Tens of thousands of fishing boats were destroyed by the tsunami waves, the Food and Agriculture Organization said Thursday.
The Rome-based agency said that fishermen will need sizeable financial aid to get back on their feet and earn a living once again. But the FAO said it was still too early to determine just how much aid they will be needing over the next few months.
"FAO is currently assessing the damage and will help (governments and local authorities) to repair and replace fishing boats ... so that fish production can be resumed as soon as possible," said the agency's head of fishery technology service, Jeremy Turner.
He added that the damage caused was "worse and more complex than expected."
For instance, in Indonesia's Aceh province, which was one of the worst-hit areas, over 70 percent of small-scale fishing boats have been destroyed. Fishing is the biggest employment in the area, with 42,000 fishers and families living in the province.
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
