The Hon. Ramalingam Chandrasekar - Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources
The Minister stated that Cyclone “Michaung” caused major losses to the shrimp industry and that a recovery programme has been developed with stakeholders in Puttalam, with new shrimp farming areas identified including in Jaffna. He said about 1,300 reservoirs have been identified as suitable for reservoir-based fisheries and that plans are underway to expand production through them. He also noted that aquaculture export earnings have increased from about USD 285 million to about USD 300 million, with plans for further growth.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, Cyclone “Michaung” caused heavy losses to the shrimp industry. We initiated a major recovery programme, especially engaging all stakeholders in Puttalam and formulating plans; we have also identified new areas, notably in Jaffna, to revive shrimp farming with concrete measures.
¶ 02 On reservoir-based fisheries, we estimate around 1,300 reservoirs are suitable for fisheries engagement. We have prepared plans to utilize these, expanding the reservoir system and production. Past periods neglected this, but now a significant programme is underway; results will follow.
¶ 03 From aquaculture exports we earned about USD 285 million earlier; this year it has increased to about USD 300 million. We have plans to further increase this.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Tuesday, 5 May 2026 ·No. 23546 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Ramalingam Chandrasekar - Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 5 May 2026. No. 23546. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/19755