The Negombo Lagoon spreads over an area of 3 164 hectares. It is also a part of the much larger Muthurawajawela Marsh-Negombo Lagoon coastal wetland. Apart from at the single slight opening to the sea at its northern end, the water depth within the lagoon is less than 2 m. The fishermen based at the Negombo lagoon live in abject poverty in shanty thatch palm villages along the water’s edge. They mainly on their traditional knowledge of the seasons for their livelihood, using outrigger canoes carved out of tree trunks and nylon nets to bring in modest catches from September through April.