More money spent importing fish in 2015 as exports dive

By Uditha Jayasinghe 

For the first time in history the value of fish imported to Sri Lanka exceeded the value of fish exports in 2015 with Rs. 30.7 billion spent on shipping fish to the country while only Rs.24.7 billion was earned, largely due to the loss of GSP+ for the sector. 

 According to data published in the Finance Ministry Annual Report 120,046 MT of fish was imported to Sri Lanka in 2015 up from 78,712 MT in 2014 at a cost of Rs.18.8 billion. However, in the same period Sri Lanka only exported 17,461 MT of fish, a sharp slide from 26,320 MT the previous year. 

Sri Lanka has traditionally imported more fish than it exports, usually in the form of low quality tinned fish that is imported at cheaper prices. But in 2015 the trend led to more money being spent to import fish than what was earned through exports. 

The data also indicates that the reduction of exports to the European Union did not result in an increase of supply of fresh seafood to Sri Lankan consumers who continued to increase their demand for tinned imported fish. 

The Annual Report also noted the fisheries sector contracted by 2.7% value added terms in 2015 compared to 3.7% growth recorded in 2014 mainly due to the negative growth of 1.4% and 11.2% recorded in the marine fishing sector and fresh water fishing sector. 

Inland fish production declined by 11.2% to 76,300 MT from 75,700 MT in 2014 mainly driven by the adverse weather conditions experienced in the early part of 2015 and the reduction of the release of fingerlings to the tanks in 2014.  Meanwhile marine fish production also declined by 1.4% to 452.9 thousand MT. The decline was largely attributed to the contraction of coastal fish catch in 2015. The exports of seafood, including fresh and frozen fish also decreased by 35.5% to $163 million in 2015 mainly due to the ban of exports to the European Union. 

“However, the Government provided impetus to the sector by providing boats and fishing gear to fishermen during the year. Further the release of fingerlings to tanks, proper management of water bodies, with community participation and the establishment of community based mini-hatcheries continued in 2015 to increase the production of inland fish,” the report said.