COLOMBO, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's export revenue from fish and fisheries products grew 47.9 percent in 2021, local media citing a state minister reported on Friday.
Despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's fisheries export revenue reached a record 318 million U.S. dollars in 2021, compared to 215 million U.S. dollars earned in 2020, Kanchana Wijesekera, state minister of Ornamental Fish, Freshwater Fish and Shrimp Farming,
Sri Lanka's production of farmed shrimp nearly doubled in 2021 with export values increasing 162 percent, Wijesekera said. Meanwhile, revenue from the export of ornamental fish increased 74 percent in 2021.
Wijesekera said domestic canned fish production rose from 90,000 units per day in January 2021 to 220,000 cans per day in December 2021, helping the country approach self-sufficiency in its total requirement of 275,000 cans per day.
Sri Lanka recorded the lowest volume and value of fish imports in a decade at 56,176 tons and 126 million U.S. dollars respectively in 2021. The country, therefore, netted a historic fish trade surplus of 192 million U.S. dollars in 2021.
Sri Lanka's fisheries sector provides direct and indirect employment to over 585,000 people, according to data from the Ministry of Fisheries. ■
