Fisheries exports grew 42% to $241 million in 2017 after the EU lifted a fisheries exports ban the previous June. The export gain comes despite a lower 2.6% gain in production and domestic consumption barely improving, data from the Central Bank and Fisheries Ministry show. With the reinstatement of the EU’s GSP Plus trade concessions, the government announced several concessions in the 2018 budget to promote deep sea fishing: a 50% subsidy on fishing vessels and cold storage facilities, and a 14% income tax rate for businesses investing in the sector.
389,500MT
Total catch over January-September 2017
82.6%
Share of marine fish catch (less than half of this is deep sea)
19
Lagoons out of 116 in Sri Lanka to be developed as fisheries and eco-tourism sites
44.5g
Sri Lanka’s per capita fish consumption in 2017
40-60%
Post-harvest losses in fisheries