President calls for plans to reduce forex spent on fish imports

• Proposes ship building by local firms
• Protein requirement in rural areas to be met from freshwater fish
• Export of ornamental fish to be encouraged
• Artificial fish breeding centres to be established 

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday proposed that multiple plans should be formulated to reduce the foreign exchange spent annually on fish imports to save an estimated $ 500 million, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said yesterday. 

The Government annually imports fish, dry fish, Maldive fish and canned fish. The contribution of the fishing industry to Gross Domestic Product stands at 1%.

The President emphasised that the fishing industry in the country should be placed among exports that earn foreign exchange by harnessing the fishing potential along the coastal belt around the country and the inland tank network.

The President made these remarks during a meeting to discuss future activities of the State Ministry of Ornamental Fish, Freshwater Fish and Shrimp Farming Development, Multi-day Fishing and Fish Export held at the Presidential Secretariat on Thursday.

The contribution of locally bred freshwater fish and seawater fish to the total export of ornamental fish is 95% and 98% respectively. The ornamental fish traders highlighted the possibility of exporting around 700 varieties. Breeding and exporting endemic fish to earn more foreign exchange was discussed during the meeting.

The President instructed the officials to explore the possibility of easing existing barriers to re-export aquatic plants after cultivating them locally.

There are around 18,000 inland tanks in the country. The number of tanks used for freshwater fishing is only around 1,500. Head of the Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival Basil Rajapaksa said the protein requirement in rural areas could be met by identifying tanks that were suitable for freshwater fish cultivation.

It has been planned to release 90,000 freshwater fish fingerlings in order to promote freshwater fishing. The need to build multi-day trawlers with freezers and sanitation facilities and to provide vocational training to fishermen was also discussed.

It was revealed that the Fisheries Corporation was in a severe financial crisis as that has resulted in its inability to provide required services to fishermen or vessels. Those who are engaged in the sector said that large freezers in working condition have been leased to the private sector for as long as 33 years during the previous administration.

When producing dry fish, only the fish that are not available within the country should be imported, President said. Plans are underway to place discarded railway carriages, buses and fishing vessels at the bottom of the seabed at 172 identified locations to establish artificial breeding centres in order to promote fishing harvest within sea limits.

The President instructed the officials to meet the demand for canned fish production locally. Ships should be built domestically to assist the fishermen and fishing industry.

State Minister Kanchana Wijesekara, Secretary to the President Dr. P.B. Jayasundera, Secretaries to Cabinet and State Ministries, manufacturers and businessmen related to the fishing sector were also present.