The Hon. Ramalingam Chandrasekar — Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources
The Minister tabled data on fish production, export earnings and import expenditure for 2015 to the first quarter of 2025. He outlined measures to increase fish stocks and catches, including artificial reef deployments, an FAO-assisted deep-sea longline pilot, inland stocking of fish and prawn fingerlings, provision of offshore stock data to fishers, and installation of barrier nets to prevent fish losses from tanks during heavy rains. He also stated that monthly stocking of 100–120 tanks a year began in 2025, with plans to raise inland harvests by about 20,000 metric tons annually, expand fingerling production through three new hatcheries, and promote value addition programmes prioritizing women in fishing families.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, the reply is as follows:
¶ 02 - Data tables on marine/coastal/offshore and inland/brackish-water fish production by year (2015–2025 Q1), fish export earnings (LKR/USD), and fish import expenditure (LKR/USD) were presented. [Rest of the answer tabled.]
¶ 03 Key measures to increase fish stocks and catch: - Artificial reef modules: Environmentally safe artificial reef structures (repurposed decommissioned multi-day boats, bus chassis frames, fish aggregating devices) were deployed in selected coastal areas (2021–2024) to enhance nearshore fish breeding habitats. Deployments are planned this year in selected locations in Galle, Trincomalee, Colombo, and Negombo Districts. - Deep-sea pilot: A pilot longline fishery targeting deep-sea species is being implemented with FAO technical assistance and will continue this year. - Stocking inland waters: The National Aquaculture Development Authority (NAQDA) and the National Water Resources Research and Development Agency are jointly releasing fish and prawn fingerlings into inland water bodies to increase stocks. - Data to fishers: The Department of Fisheries and the National Water Resources Research and Development Agency are jointly providing data on offshore fish stocks to fishing communities. - Reducing inland post-spill losses: When tanks spill during heavy rains, sluices are opened and an estimated 40% of fish escape. Plans are to install barrier nets near sluices, spillways, and feeder channels (approx. LKR 700,000 per tank) to reduce losses.
¶ 04 Additionally, regularized monthly stocking of 100–120 selected tanks per year commenced in 2025 (previously ad hoc), targeting an annual increase of about 20,000 metric tons of inland fish harvest. To support this, fingerling production will be increased by 150 million annually, with three new hatcheries to be established over the next five years associated with Moragahakanda, Inginimitiya, and Kaluganga reservoirs. Value-addition programmes prioritizing women in fishing families are planned to reduce post-harvest losses and ensure benefits reach consumers.
¶ 05 (b) Not applicable.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 9 July 2025 ·No. 1752660241032216 ·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, 9 July 2025. No. 1752660241032216. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/9188