Status of the Marine Ornaments Export Industry in Sri Lanka
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Date
2020
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka
Abstract
The marine aquarium industry in Sri Lanka has become a popular industry during the past
few years. Exporters have shown an increasing trend for marine ornamental species
exporting due to globally increased demand. Therefore, a study was designed to assess the
present situation of the marine ornamental industry in Sri Lanka. Pretested questionnairebased survey with visual observations of the exporting process was conducted by
selecting 30 leading marine ornaments exporting companies to assess the situation of the
industry. Export data that were gathered from Sri Lanka Customs were analyzed using
descriptive analysis methods. The analysis figured that approximately 611,310 marine
fish individuals in 2017 and 459,425 individuals in 2018 have been exported from Sri
Lanka. Thus, 151,885 individuals of prominent decrease have been observed in exporting
marine ornamental fish due to the reduction of fish catch from the wild. However, a
prominent growth (49,468) has been observed in exporting marine invertebrates as
105,750 individuals in 2017 and 155,218 individuals in 2018. These ornamentals have the
highest demand in the USA (336,452) followed by Japan (143,497) and UK (25,386). As
per the regions, the North American region had the highest demand for marine fish
approximately 406,470 individuals totally in both years and followed by the North Asian
region by exporting 290,916 individuals. Family Gobidae (21.6%) was the most
demanded fish family in the export market followed by family Serranidae (11.7%)
Acanthuridae (10.7%), and Labridae (7.7%). Most demanded invertebrate family was
Hippolitidae (83.9%) followed by family Rhynchocinedae (9.0%). However, these
targeting particular species in wild capture fishery may highly affect to collapse the
balance of Sri Lankan reef ecosystems. Therefore, suitable strategies should be
immediately implemented to fulfill the huge demand in the exporting market while
sustainably utilizing natural resources.
Keywords: Marine aquarium fishery, Wild catch, Reef fish
Description
Keywords
Aquaculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries, Animal Sciences