March 9, 2005

Sri Lanka imports a large percent of fish yearly

Sri Lankans have a huge appetite for fish. Though the island is surrounded by sea, with a coastline of over 1700km on all sides, it is heavily dependant on seafood imports to satisfy the varying consumer needs. Sri Lanka imports over 130,000 tonnes of fresh fish or the equivalent annually to supplement its domestic production of around 325,000 tonnes.

The major items imported are dried fish and canned fish. Over 20,000 tonnes of canned fish worth around US$ 16 million are imported annually from locations as far away as Chile to satisfy the local demand. In fact 90 per cent of the Sri Lankan canned fish market is catered by Chilean canned products, mainly Mackerel species in brine or in oil, retailed at around Rs 65.00-68.00/ can. Imports also come from Peru and Thailand. Unlike in the South East Asian region, canned fish in tomato sauce is not popular in Sri Lanka.