Sri Lanka plans to release 100 million fish fry and 50 million juvenile freshwater shrimp into reservoirs this year in order to increase the production of freshwater fish. “The minister of fisheries, Douglas Devananda, proposed to increase the production of the fisheries industry by releasing 500 million fish fry annually and continuously, however this was unsuccessful,” Cabinet spokesperson, Bandula Gunawardena said.
“Now there is a plan to release 100 million fish fry and 50 million juvenile shrimp into the reservoir and the Cabinet has granted approval,” Gunawardena said. The Cabinet approved the allocation of 100 million rupees for the program. The freshwater fisheries and aquaculture sector play an important role in Sri Lanka’s rural economy, contributing to food security and nutrition, as well as providing employment opportunities.
Around 500 million fish fry should be continuously released into the reservoirs annually for the production of economically effective fresh water fish with high growth in the reservoirs, Gunawardena said. But due to insufficient depositing of fish fry, it has not been possible to fully utilize the potential of the existing reservoirs for culture-based fisheries.
For 2023, 230 million fish fry and 80 million shrimp fingerlings were planned to be deposited in the reservoirs. But the plan had to be changed due to the drying up of reservoirs due to the recent dry weather. In April, officials from the Meteorological Department confirmed that dry weather conditions would continue until the Southwest Monsoon, with temperatures rising below average in areas such as Anuradhapura, Rathnapura, Jaffna and Vavuniya.