By Imsha Iqbal Sri Lanka is expected to become self-sufficient in canned fish within the next six months, following the upcoming establishment of two new canned fish facilities, according to the State Minister of Ornamental Fish, Freshwater Fish and Shrimp Farming Development, Multiday Fishing, and Fish Exports.State Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said: “With two new facilities in the pipeline, production of 350,000 cans per day will be reached in six months,” while highlighting that the canned fish requirement per day in Sri Lanka remains at about 250,000 cans. Thus, he implied that Sri Lanka will be able to become self-sufficient in canned fish.He further mentioned that the local canned fish manufacturing industry was able to manufacture approximately 220,000 cans for the first time last week. On the contrary, a few months ago, the manufacturing capacity of the aforesaid fish product remained, approximately, at a mere 60,000 cans per day.State Minister Wijesekera said that he held meetings with the manufacturers who are involved in the said industry in order to discuss the objectives regarding canned fish manufacturing. He also admitted that there are few hindrances causing the shortage in canned fish and he explained three major reasons. According to him, 90% of the imported cans were sent back to importers during the last four months due to the presence of arsenic, while panic buying as a result of the movement restrictions imposed to contain the third wave of the pandemic, and large-scale buying of canned fish by organisations for food hampers that were prepared for distribution, led to further insufficiencies. With regard to the quality of the product under the SLS 591 standard, Wijesekera commented that the arsenic levels are being checked in both imported raw material as well as finished products by the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI). According to him, raw material importation takes place only when local prices of fish are high or when there is a shortage of supply in domestic fish supply. However, during the last four months, the manufacturers of canned fish could source 95% of the raw material domestically. Speaking to The Morning Business, Canned Fish Association President Shiran Fernando said the canned fish industry would not be affected due to the marine pollution which was caused from the X-Press Pearl ship disaster. He said that Pacific mackerel – in local terms Linna – and other fish that are used for can preservation are not the types of fish that live on the coastal line. He added that therefore, the canned fish manufacturing industry has not been affected, because the pollution took place in the sea near the coastline.
