Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2018-04-10

Increase of aquaculture production through conservation and development of the aquatic ecosystems associated with lagoons and inland waters of Sri Lanka

- There is a high probability for the sustainable utilization of the natural lagoon system, estuary related areas and the small and medium scale internal waters in the wet zone with surplus of water which is not used for temperate grasslands and agricultural purposes the fishery industry in the country. Therefore, the Budget - 2018 has allocated Rs.1,000 million to implement a project to improve the fish production through conservation and development of the aquatic ecosystems associated with lagoons and inland waters of Sri Lanka.

The objectives of the project are to improve the fish production, generate new employment opportunities, promote tourism related industries, enhance the rural economy by implementing the fish product processing and value addition projects and to increase the foreign currency earnings. As such, the proposal made by Hon. Mahinda Amaraweera, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development, to implement the project to cover 18 lagoons and 300 inland tanks in the wet zone, giving priority to the lagoons of Puttalam, Nayaru, Arugambay, Panama and Rekawa, was approved by the Cabinet.