The Hon. Rathna Gamage
Hon. Rathna Gamage stated that canned fish imports have fallen by about 90 per cent, from 4,476 metric tons in 2024 to 601 metric tons in 2025, with limited imports retained for domestic and tourist demand. He said local production has increased from 180,000 to over 250,000 cans per day, factories have expanded, and exports to Canada and Middle Eastern markets have begun, with six factories currently involved. He argued that the sector’s growth is creating employment and increasing purchases of fishers’ catch for processing, while noting that the specific impediment raised was unclear.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, canned fish imports have decreased compared to the past. As shown, in 2024 imports were 4,476 metric tons and in 2025, 601 metric tons—around a 90% reduction. We import only a small quantity needed for domestic and tourist demand, including products in sunflower oil.
¶ 02 Daily local canned fish production has increased from 180,000 cans to over 250,000. Factories have expanded, creating more jobs. Since last year, Sri Lanka has begun exporting canned fish to markets such as Canada and several Middle Eastern countries. Six factories are currently involved in exports and we will increase that number. With imports down by about 90% and exports starting, the outlook is positive, bringing more employment and stronger purchase of about 64% of fishers’ catch for processing. The specific impediment raised is not clear.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Tuesday, 17 March 2026 ·No. 23387 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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- not yet extracted — page/column anchors are not in the current dataset; the source PDF is the citable location.
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/lk/speeches/2957
Cite as: The Hon. Rathna Gamage. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 17 March 2026. No. 23387. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/2957