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Sri Lanka is rich in resources needed for the fish processing industry since it has a coastal belt of 1,700 km and an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 2018 Sq. km around the island. At present, Sri Lanka exports fish products to many countries such as Japan, the USA, and those in the European Union.

The export market can be expanded to other markets as well, if value addition to fish is promoted. Statistics for the year 2000 revealed that the fish industry contributed 2.6% to the GNP. With current EU and World Trade Organization regulations, Sri Lanka has to compete with other countries to market its products. In this regard, there is a need to upgrade the technologies used in the fish processing industry to meet the global demand.

It was to address such issues that a workshop on the fish processing industry was held recently. This was organized jointly by the Technology Watch Centre (TWC) of the National Science Foundation and the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI), with funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) project of the Ministry of Economic Reform, Science and Technology.

It was held with the aim of bringing all the related industries, academia and government institutions together to find prompt solutions to prevailing problems in the fish processing sector, in order for it to compete more effectively in the global market. The workshop concentrated on identifying technological and other related problems of the industry, and on working out possible practical approaches to obviate those problems. This was felt to be necessary as the fish processing industry is often given minimal attention in comparison to the other sectors of the food processing industry.

Representatives from leading industries, universities, the Export Development Board and the Ministry of Fisheries were among the participants at this workshop.

Prof. Ranjan Ramasamy, Chairman of the NSF mentioned that it did not make sense for Sri Lankans, with access to vast resources of fish, to concern themselves with the cost of canned fish, imported from countries as far away as Chile. D. B. Sumithraarachchi, Director of the ADB Project assured the participants that the seminar would expose the capabilities of scientists both at the ITI and at universities in generating relevant technologies needed by the industry. Head, Food and Agro Technology Division, ITI, Dr. Nandanie Ediriweera outlined the objectives of the seminar and emphasized the potential for the fish processing industry in Sri Lanka and the challenges for global trade.

Mr. Roshan Fernando, CEO of Tropic Frozen Food Ltd. made a presentation on the current status and problems faced by the tuna processing industry. He suggested setting up an e-mail subscription to data on the movement of the tuna population in Sri Lankan waters, as this would be helpful in increasing the catch of tuna.

The participants were of the view that this facility would cost little and could easily be set up at the Ministry of Fisheries. Meanwhile, Janaka Ruwan Kumara, Head, Quality Control Department, Aqua Gardens (Pvt) Ltd made a presentation on the current status and problems in the prawn processing industry.

He pointed out that the prawn-processing industry faces many problems that need to be addressed immediately.

According to Mr. Kumara, the high cost of production is one of the biggest problems. He also stated that limitation of the supply of raw material and the consequent increase of the price of raw materials are also serious issues.

Dr. Yasmina Sultanbawa, Senior Research Officer at the ITI gave two comprehensive presentations on "solid waste management in the fish/crustacean processing industry" and the "emerging pathogen problems in the fish processing industry".

She focused mainly on the edible products that can be produced from fish waste and explained the progress the ITI has made so far in this area.

She also discussed ways and means of eliminating the risk of food borne diseases, hazard identification and food safety objectives during her presentation on emerging pathogen problems in the fish processing industry.

Sepalika Wickramasinghe from the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic resources made a presentation on "regulations governing the global trade" where she discussed the ways in which regulations have affected the global trade of the fish industry. She also briefly discussed all the regulations affecting the fish processing industry.

Mrs. K. D. Attanayake from the ITI made a comprehensive presentation on "wastewater treatment in the fish processing industry" and explained the available technologies for wastewater treatment that could be adopted by the fish processing industry. She emphasized that proper characterization of wastewater and evaluation of all the other relevant factors are required before selecting the appropriate treatment technology. Meanwhile,Mrs. Subadra Jayasinghe, Senior Research Officer also from the ITI made a presentation on "meeting the needs of the global trade".

She discussed the needs of the importing country and the ways in which we could cater to those needs. She also focused on the factors that need to be considered in competing in the global trade.

Problems that need immediate solutions were highlighted at the workshop. As outcomes of the seminar, it was suggested that the latest technology on fishing methods be disseminated in order to increase the volume of catch. The importance of having access to a database on fish population behaviour where the spool of catch as well as the seasonality are available, especially with regard to tuna fish in Sri Lankan waters, was highlighted.

It was also felt that there is a need for research into evaluating the quality of fish during seasonal changes and determining the suitability for processing; identifying fish parasites in Sri Lankan waters; determining the seasonal changes in catches that can occur and determining the level of heavy metals present in our waters at present.

Emphasis was laid on the need to evaluate the type of algal toxins (dinoflagellates) that are present in Sri Lankan waters and to determine the seasons when bivalve consumption is safe.

During the discussion, it was suggested that high value products like chitosan be developed from shrimp waste.It was also suggested that special bait be prepared for the tuna industry, for example chanos chanos (milk fish). It was suggested that a separate industry be developed for bait.

The need to minimize the gap between industrialists and academics was greatly emphasized, as there is much information that needs to be shared.

The TWC hopes to co-ordinate these activities in the future. With regard to policy matters, it was pointed out by prawn industrialists that in India 4% incentive scheme is being given by the government to protect the industry. It was suggested that even if no incentive is given to the local industry, that there should be some kind of protection given to the industry by the government.

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