Sri Lankan Seafood
Sri Lanka has emerged as a quality tuna exporter -predominantly yellow fin and big eye species to international markets. These include sashimi quality tuna, tuna loins, fresh tuna steaks, tuna topping and tuna saku blocks, to name a few.
Other varieties of Sri Lankan seafood relished by the world are the ingredients to culinary seafood heaven; lobsters, crabs, squid, cuttle fish, shark fin, beche de-mer and fish maws are famous in the international seafood market due to their quality taste and texture.
Value added shrimps such as nobashi, and butterfly cut are popular in the Japanese market, while head-on, headless, shell on, peeled and cooked shrimps are popular in the USA, Japan, and Asian markets such as Singapore. These highly sought-after products are all exported from Sri Lanka in significant quantities.
The seafood sector has shown a growth rate of 5% within the last 5 years with key buyers from UK, France, Italy, Japan, Netherlands and the USA.
With the opening up of the Northern and Eastern areas of the island nation, 65% of oceanic area is now free for fishing.
A fishing fleet of 1700 boats operate around the island’s waters and supply approximately to 75 medium and large scale export companies, 32 of which utilize the EU-approved processing plants. The sector has generated close to 2.4 million direct and indirect jobs.
United Kingdom is the main market for Sri Lankan tuna followed by France, Italy, Netherlands, Germany etc. In recent years Sri Lanka has been steadily increasing its share in the international market.
There are about 32 EU approved processing plants in Sri Lanka. The country successfully complies with the stringent regulations imposed by importing countries and adheres to HACCP, BRP, Friend of Sea and other food security environment friendly requirements.
Sri Lankan Seafood Products
- Tuna-in fresh, chilled and frozen forms
- Shrimps & Prawns
- Crabs and Lobsters
- Shark fins
- Fish maws
- Beche-de-mer
- Cuttlefish & Squid
- Sprats
Major Markets
| Product | International market |
| Fish fillets and other fish meat | UK, Germany, Italy, France, Netherlands, Japan, USA, Denmark, Belgium, Ireland |
| Fish, frozen, excluding fish fillets and other fish meat | Netherlands, Italy, UK, France, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Taiwan, Japan Israel |
| Crustaceans, whether in shell or not, live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine; crustaceans, in shell, cooked by steaming or by boiling in water, whether or not chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine; flours, meals and pellets of crustaceans, fit for human consumption. | Japan, USA, Singapore, Hong Kong, Maldives, china, Canada, Taiwan, UK, Korea South |
| Fish, fresh or chilled, excluding fish fillets and other fish meat | Japan, USA, Canada, Switzerland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Pakistan, Israel, Germany |
| Molluscs, whether in shell or not, live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine; aquatic invertebrates other than crustaceans and molluscs, live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine; flours, meals and pellets of aquatic invertebrates other than crustaceans, fit for human consumption. | Hong Kong, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Maldives, Canada, USA, Thailand |
| Fish, dried, salted or in brine; smoked fish, whether or not cooked before or during the smoking process; flours, meals and pellets of fish, fit for human consumption. | Hong Kong, Australia, Kuwait, Maldives, Korea South, UAE, USA, Canada, Malaysia Singapore |
Supply Chain Channels for Sri Lankan Seafood
he exporters / processors supply directly to supermarket chains and they’ve identified the end users and their needs. Currently, the relationship between exporters / processors and supermarkets is very strong. The exporters are fond of direct exports rather than going through indirect channels.
Packaging
Packaging of fishery products under modified atmosphere (MA) increases shelf life of the fish product compared to those packed under air. Fresh chilled tuna loins are packed in individual vacuum packed LLDPE bags. Vacuum pouches, Gel ice packs, Styrofoam boxes and Corrugated boxes are used as packaging materials forfresh and chilled products.
Export Performance
| Year | Value US $ Million |
| 2012 | 197 |
| 2013 | 233 |
| 2014 | 252 |
| 2015 | 163 |
| 2016 | 169 |
Major Market
| Countries | Value US $ Million |
| United States | 56.26 |
| Japan | 18.11 |
| Netherlands | 13.71 |
| Canada | 11.03 |
| Province of China, Taiwan | 7.55 |
| Hong Kong | 7.3 |
| Viet Nam | 6.08 |
| Italy | 6.08 |
| Saudi Arabia | 5.36 |
| Israel | 4.01 |
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