The government is planning to create a Crab City in Hambantota in addition of setting up two aquaculture industrial parks in Batticaloa and Mannar districts, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said.
These projects are in line with the ambitious drive to double the export earnings from fisheries and aquatic resources by 2020.
Speaking at the Second International Ornamental Fish Trade and Technical Conference held in Colombo he said aqua culture parks in Mannar and Batticaloa will be on 3,000 and 2,000
acres of land respectively.The work on the Mannar industrial parkis slated to begin next month.
Sri Lanka is blessed with more than 10,000 internal reservoirs and some 116 lagoons and according to the Minister ,it has been suggested to develop the existing 116 lagoons while setting up several breeding centers in selected areas to develop aquaculture resources of fish species in high demand for export purposes.
Primary Industries Minister Daya Gamage speaking at the event said the world’s ornamental fish industry is worth over US$ 3 billion with exports worth about US$ 300 million.
“Sri Lanka is currently the sixth largest supplier of ornamental fish to the global market”
He said developing countries account for 55% of total exports while 90% of the world’s demand for ornamental fish is met by farm fish and the rest is mainly by wild collected marine fish.
Sri Lanka’s ornamental fish industry has a 50 year history having started in 1952.Sri Lanka exports fresh water, brackish water and marine water fish species, marine invertebrates and aquatic plants.
Due to the overexploitation of the marine ornamental fish species, the government imposed some strict regulations to make sure the industry can be sustained while encouraging the farming of freshwater fish species, the Minister noted.
“Although Sri Lanka’s main buyers for ornamental fish includes the USA, Japan, Hong Kong and the EU countries, Sri Lanka contributes less than 5% of the world demand. Therefore, Sri Lanka has a lot of opportunities and strength for the development of the ornamental fish industry,”Gamage said.
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