Sri Lanka targets USD 1 Bn in fish exports by 2020

Plans to increase production to 600,000 metric tonnes by 2013, double aquaculture production to 90,000 metric tones

LBR,Thursday 08 December 2011

Sri Lanka is pushing towards a target of one billion dollars in foreign exchange earnings from fisheries exports by 2020 and increasing current production by 150 percent to 600,000 metric tones by 2013, officials said.

“EDB (Export Development Board) is optimistic of achieving USD one billion export revenue in fresh water fish exports by 2020,” said Janaka Ratnayaka, chairman of the Export Development Board and INFOFISH Governing Council.

“Fisheries is a promising sector to achieve our export target of USD 15 Bn by 2015.”

Ratnayake was addressing the inauguration of the 26th session of INFOFISH Governing Council held in Colombo.

INFOFISH, headquartered in Malaysia, is an inter-governmental organization providing marketing information and technical advisory services to the fishery industry of the Asia-Pacific region, which includes some of the largest fishing nations in the world.

Its 14 member countries are Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Iran, DPR Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Thailand.

Ratnayake said over 120 Sri Lankan exporters ship fish products to overseas markets such as Japan, USA and the EU and the EDB is drawing plans to strengthen this sector such as holding seafood exhibitions, providing assistance to adopt eco-friendly modern technology, international standards and market information.

Sri Lanka, being an island nation claims a coastline of around 1,700 km which is of considerable socio-economic importance. The country also has extensive freshwater and brackish water resources to sustain viable fishing activities.

Sri Lanka’s fisheries sector consists of three main sub sectors namely, Coastal Fisheries, deep-sea Fisheries and Inland Fisheries & Aquaculture.

According to the commerce ministry the sector currently provide direct employment to about 650,000 people comprising 150,000 in fishing, 100,000 in associated services & activities and 400,000 in fish trade.

“We hope to increase production to nearly 600,000 metric tons by 2013, from the present production of around 400,000 metric tonnes,” said Rajitha Senaratne, Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development.

“This will increase per capita fish consumption from the present 16 grams per head per day to 60 grams, in line with WHO (World Health Organization) recommended daily protein intake for maintaining health and wellbeing.”

“We also hope to almost double our aquaculture production to 90,000 metric tons, to support this effort,” he said.

The island’s annual fish exports are estimated at around 172 million tonnes while 95 million tonnes fish are imported to the country but the bulk of it are re-exported.

The value of exports has increased from USD 103 Mn in year 2005 to USD 202 Mn in year 2010 indicating an average growth of 15 percent, the ministry said.

From January to October 2011, Sri Lanka produced 309,580 metric tonnes of marine fish and 47,450 metric tonnes of freshwater fish.

“I am glad to inform you that opportunities exist for brackish water aquaculture in a total extent of around 6,000 acres in Puttlam, Hambantota, Galle, Batticaloa, Mannar, Jaffna & Trincomalee,” said Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry & Commerce.

“Government has given special attention to analyze opportunities available in the North & East coastal area in the Island and also to implement accelerated development projects as this zone has contributed to a major share of the fish production in the country during the past,” the minister added.
http://lbr.lk/fullstory.php?nid=201112072123158911

With this Govt.Policy, TESS has a good future I beleive.I heard that Tess is the largest exporter of seafood at present.

Rajaraam wrote:With this Govt.Policy, TESS has a good future I beleive.I heard that Tess is the largest exporter of seafood at present.

TESS is not the largest exporter don't lie.

There are so many (stray) dogs in the country and those who watch TV News and others who have used the Expressway recently will agree with me.

How about exporting Dog meat to countries in the Far East where there is a big demand and dwindling supply.

I think we can earn billions by exporting Dog meat to those countries and it will be like දඹුලු ගිහින් තලගොයෙකුත් මරා ගත්තා වගේ.

Getting rid of Dog from the country and at the same time earn good money.

Kithsiri wrote:There are so many (stray) dogs in the country and those who watch TV News and others who have used the Expressway recently will agree with me.

How about exporting Dog meat to countries in the Far East where there is a big demand and dwindling supply.

I think we can earn billions by exporting Dog meat to those countries and it will be like දඹුලු ගිහින් තලගොයෙකුත් මරා ගත්තා වගේ.

Getting rid of Dog from the country and at the same time earn good money.

Frogs is the best one. there's already a news on this not about stray dogs.Frog leg demand in Singapore had been growing. But government had not given authority to export this.Sri Lanka was to get a snake breeding farm with German assistance which would have helped us to export snakes but not endemic ones. But because of a foolish journalist Bandula Sirimanne (who wrote we are going to export endemic ones) at Sunday Times and who wrote foolish article Export Development Board had to abandon the project. that was also stopped. Otherwise Sri Lankawa Garandi saha Mapilo yawala Euro 2500 per snake hoyanda thibba.

Read this international article about global frog demand and how much a snake is worth.

Sri Lanka needs to revise reptile export rules: European Reptile breeder
Sun, 2010-11-14 04:48 — editor
News
By J.A. Fernando in Colombo
Colombo, 14 November, (Asiantribune.com):

Pastel Desert
In the midst of growing concern on animal rights and endangered animal adopting demand in European Union, Jurgen Ullmann of Regiuswelt in Germany said that Sri Lankan government needs to look at new ways of increasing exports in new sectors such as exporting reptiles.

Speaking at a Seminar on Ornamental Fish and Pet Accessories Industry at Export Development Board, Mr. Ullmann said that Germany alone has 500,000 reptiles at their homes which are all imported from African and Asian countries. “People in Europe like to adopt birds, snakes, fish apart from dogs and cats. Germany’s animal industry is about € 3.5 billion and European Reptile industry is valued at Euro € 3 billion a year” said Jurgen Ullmann speaking to Asian Tribune who is currently a reptile breeder in Germany.

However, many Sri Lankan so called conservative environmentalists and naturalists started to lobby as soon as German delegation with Ullmann who visited Sri Lanka on late September requested to look in to possibilities of exporting snakes and enter into non-venomous reptile breeding for the EU market with German assistance.

Industrialists say that during last 5 decades, Sri Lankan conservative environmentalists has raised their voices against natural exports without sharing their knowledge to legalize it or neither allowing the higher foreign exchange earning industries to grow while patenting the rights of locally available bio genetic creatures or the genetic value of them in order to gain long term benefits for the country’s economic development.


Sri Lanka Hump Nosed Viper.JPG
“Many industrialists who are doing animal exports are not highly educated so they need expert advice to secure the country’s biologically and environmentally important creatures while engaging in business that could generate more foreign exchange which in turn generate economic revenue reaching the rural community development. Rather than helping industries to grow and industrialists to get necessary approvals and patents to safe countries biological assets some environmental lawyers and environmentalists try to bring them down.

This happen due to personal jealousy that environmentalists and environmental lawyers having seen an entrepreneur growing high, earning foreign exchange as those conservative environmentalists never have the ability to run a business nor an economically income generating entity that serves the country. Those environmentalist rather get some environmental journalist to voice their ideas against it” said one exporter, Hemantha Wickramaratne explaining his views on lobbying conservative environmentalists who try to put up a blind story about an environmental imbalance.

However, legally under Section 30 of the Sri Lankan Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (FFPO), all reptiles except those deemed deadly poisonous, are protected.

The law prohibits possession of all reptiles considered ‘non-deadly poisonous’ and breeding of any such variety can be done only for ex-situ conservation or scientific studies, for which a permit from the Department of Wildlife Conservation is mandatory.

According to export industrialists and analysts even the Export Development Board (EDB) has taken a ‘Deaf and Dumb, Blind Eye’ situation due to conservative environmentalist echoing against ‘Snake Exports’ after media reports which came in to light criticizing the move as country’s premier export regulator is also lack of knowledge on how the government can really involve in developing animal exports in the country.

“As an example Sri Lanka has a massive frog population but we never have the benefit to export them and earn some foreign revenue from these amphibians although countries like Singapore has a higher demand for frog legs we rather see our frogs dying in roadsides killed by rolling wheels of vehicles for nothing” said another industrialist Shantha Godakumbura adding that with proper rules implemented Sri Lanka can look into new revenue generating avenues for its economic growth.

According to data Previous estimates of trade volumes put the import of amphibians for food into the United States at 4000 tonnes from 1998 through 2002, or about 12% of the global market whilst the European Union imported over 6000 tonnes of frogs’ legs in 1990 and over 9700 tonnes in 1999, with the majority of this market belonging to Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. Demand for frogs in Asia supports local consumers and markets predominated by Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia.

During past few years the frogs’ legs market has shifted from seasonal harvest for local consumption to year-round global trade. Markets in the United States and France were initially supplied by domestic harvest to serve a seasonal demand, but overexploitation led to decline or loss of commercial stocks and by the time these local sources disappeared, improved food freezing technology enabled international markets to be tapped for North American and European demand, most notably in Asia where overexploitation again occurred. Later India and Bangladesh became major exporters of frogs’ legs beginning in the 1950s, producing more that 4000 tonnes year over the next 30 years and finally legal trade in frogs was banned by India in 1987 because of concerns over inhumane killing and loss of natural control of agricultural pests.

Seven snakes in Sri Lanka are said to be as “deadly poisonous” including the cobra, the Sri Lankan krait, the Indian krait, the Russel’s viper, the saw-scaled viper, the hump-nosed viper and the green-pit viper.

The current Sri Lankan law suggests that export of reptiles can be only for scientific purposes; for conservation or exchange which is certainly not for commercial purposes.

Jurgen Ullmann said that African countries have already started exporting live reptiles such as various types of snakes and pythons and they have relaxed the rules and regulations. “We have already helped them to set up snake breeding farms in countries like Ghana and South Africa. So the governments need to relook at their policies and identify the growing demand in different industries” said Ullmann adding that he could be of assistance on the expertise to set up reptile breeding farms in Sri Lanka. However he noted that the endemic reptiles could still be prevented from exports by having a proper regulation in place while extinct reptile population could be increased by way of breeding them in farms. Jurgen Ullmann said that reptiles often do not adapt well enough to captivity to feel at ease enough to mate.

Thus successful breeding signify a high set of skill in reptile husbandry. He further noted that for all reptiles, whether lizard, snake or turtle, successful breeding relies largely on ambient temperature and humidity as well as clear seasonal day-night cycles. Under this set up Sri Lanka is an ideal location for reptile breeding according to Ullmann.

Over 90 species of Snakes from nine families are represented within the diverse habitats found within the borders of Sri Lanka. Many of these species are found nowhere else in the world as per reports.

Ullmann’s Regiuswelt in Germany sells some reptile species such as Tiger Mannchen at € 7500 per snake and Pastel Desert at € 3800 per snake, while some white snakes are for sale ranging from € 1500 to € 2500 per creature. He was concluding his visit to Sri Lanka with a German Pet Industry delegation invited by the EDB and Association of Live Tropical Fish Exporters of Sri Lanka on October first week. He said that Germany has about 8.5 million cats, 5.8 million dogs,3.8 million birds and 6.3 million other small animals including ornamental fish adopted at their homes in which 90% of them are imported ones from mostly countries in Asia and Africa.

StockGuru wrote:

Rajaraam wrote:With this Govt.Policy, TESS has a good future I beleive.I heard that Tess is the largest exporter of seafood at present.

TESS is not the largest exporter don't lie.

May be I am wrong. Then who is that?

Rajaraam wrote:

StockGuru wrote:

Rajaraam wrote:With this Govt.Policy, TESS has a good future I beleive.I heard that Tess is the largest exporter of seafood at present.

TESS is not the largest exporter don't lie.

May be I am wrong. Then who is that?

Global Seafoods Factory owned by Prabash Subasinghe who bought a major stake of Ceylinco Insurance in Last year is one of the largest food fish exporters in Sri Lanka.There are few more.They haven't list themselves in CSE.

In ornamental fish industry, since 1980's the leading company was Ocean & Tropical Fish Exports Pvt Ltd started by a entrepreneur Siri Wanniarachchi who was like a founding father in Sri Lanka's ornamental fish industry...and later after that in 1996 Ananda Pathirana who was a diver from Ratmalana emerged as the leading ornamental fish exporter in Sri Lanka with a company called Aqua Marines International. Pathirana's Company's interest in aquarium fish goes several steps beyond the pure commercial objectives, as evidenced from the discovery of a new species of fish aptly named Danio Pathirana consequently named after him. This was further escorted when Mr Ananda Pathirana released two endangered Barbus species (Puntius Bandula & Puntius srilankesis) back in to their natural habitat following a captive breeding project for endangered species in Sri Lanka. Pathirana has the only license to breed Sea Horses in Sri Lanka.

Aquatic Nusrseris Pvt Ltd which was later started after Ocean & Tropical Fish Exports Pvt ownership underwent a ownership change in late 90's is also emerging as a lead exporter of Ornamental Fish Industry.

Thank you very much MarketSIRA for valued information. May be Ranasingha is doing well then. I know he has a big stake in CINS now.

StockGuru wrote:

Rajaraam wrote:With this Govt.Policy, TESS has a good future I beleive.I heard that Tess is the largest exporter of seafood at present.

TESS is not the largest exporter don't lie.

I didn't tell tess is... I said I heard.... Not to lie purposely.

Rajaraam wrote:

StockGuru wrote:

Rajaraam wrote:With this Govt.Policy, TESS has a good future I beleive.I heard that Tess is the largest exporter of seafood at present.

TESS is not the largest exporter don't lie.

May be I am wrong. Then who is that?

Tess owns: Tropic Fishery (Pvt) Ltd
Was set up in 1996, as a deep sea fishing company engaged exclusively in long and bottom line fishery. The company exploits the fishery resource surrounding the Paradise Isle in establishing a Deep Sea Fishing Company to catch Tuna and other fish.

Tropic Fishery, a pioneering company in Sri Lanka now operates 40 long line vessels which land approximately 500 tons of Tuna and bill fish, per month.


Fishing is always a tough business there are bigger ones such as Actress Sangeetha's husband Roshantha Kariyapperuma's fish business as well.

Thanks a lot marketsira, good info for me personally.


Note:
Those who are criticising about local news from lbo,lbt,lbr,ft & etc etc posted in the news section needs to understand, how much valuable infos coming out from these type of discussion.

Thanks a lot for the contributors.

Dec 09, 2011 (LBO) - Sri Lanka has emerged as the top tuna loin exporter to the European Union and is ramping up production aiming to earn a billion dollars from fishery exports in nine years, an official said.

"We hope to increase fish production to nearly 600,000 metric tons by 2013, from the present production of around 400,000 tonnes," fisheries minister Rajitha Senaratne said.

Increased production will not only enable more exports but also allow an increase in per capita fish consumption from the present 16 grams per person a day to 60 grams in line with internationally recommended protein intakes, he said.

"Tuna accounts for a large share of our seafood exports, close to 200 million US dollars in value, Senaratne told the opening session of the 26th Governing Council meeting of INFOFISH in Colombo.

The Inter Governmental Organization for Marketing, Information and Technical advisory Services for Fisheries Products in the Asia and the Pacific Region is a regional project under the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation with 14 member countries.

"The industry has shown significant growth and now Sri Lanka has become the main fresh tuna loin supplier to the EU."

Senaratne said Sri Lankan technical experts were involved in the Food and Agriculture Organisation tuna project, sharing knowledge and skills with other INFOFISH member countries.

Senaratne said the island had cracked down on illegal and destructive fishing methods like bottom trawling to ensure the fishing industry was sustainable.

Sri Lanka exports around 172 million tonnes of fish annually with its position in the Indian Ocean giving easy access to fishery resources that are in growing demand in export markets such as Yellow fin Tuna , Sword Fish and Marlin.

Janaka Ratnayaka, chairman of the Export Development Board, said the industry aims to earn a billion dollars in fresh water fish exports by 2020 although slower economic growth in key markets would have a temporary effect on demand.

"Fisheries is a promising sector to achieve our export target of 15 billion dollars by 2015. More than 120 Sri Lankan exporters are sending our fish products to destinations such as Japan, USA and the EU."
http://lbo.lk/fullstory.php?nid=886107204

Kumar wrote:Thanks a lot marketsira, good info for me personally.


Note:
Those who are criticising about local news from lbo,lbt,lbr,ft & etc etc posted in the news section needs to understand, how much valuable infos coming out from these type of discussion.

Thanks a lot for the contributors.

By the way some more to add for MarketSira's information ...I remember John Keells also started ornamental fish exports long time ago...but later those JKH executives understood that you cannot do fish business with downSouth and Sri Lankan fishermen and divers by wearing a tie and coat speaking in English and the business was closed and later sold to Asian Aquariums Ltd and later the same land in Ja-Ela was sold to Melwa-Metal company.One of the largest local manufacturers of popular MELWA Bar.