Sri Lanka to boost deep sea fishing

Sri Lanka to boost deep sea fishing

increase exports from $250 million to $500 million

Sri Lanka is planning to boost deep sea fishing and double tuna exports by 2015 with the help of new vessels from Japan and China."We hope to increase exports from 250 million US dollars to about 500 million" Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senarathne has said.

He said Kiyoshi Kimura of Japan known as Tuna King has visited Sri Lanka and he expects to bring about 4 vessels for deep sea fishing. Kimura runs a sushi restaurant chain in Japan.

The Minister said Sri Lanka had exported 256 million dollars worth of fisheries products last year out of which about 45% was tuna.

Sri Lanka had taken steps to ban purse seining, dynamite, light course fishing and stopped the sale and import of nets that damaged the fishery resources.

In the Indian Ocean Tuna commission Sri Lanka was about to be blacklisted when he was made minister but the country has made so much progress that they were now deeply involved in international fishery rule formation, he said.