State Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Dilip Wedaarachchi says the Government has launched an accelerated program to make the freshwater fishing industry the highest income earning industry in Sri Lanka. Under this program, the freshwater fishing industry in all the reservoirs in the country has already been started, State Minister Dilip Wedaarachchi said. The Minister expressed these views delivering a speech at the inaugural ceremony of the Symposium on Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture for Food Security and Nutrition held at the National Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Training Institute in Wijithapura, Kalwewa in Anuradhapura on May 30. The two-day scientific conference on aquaculture was organized for the first time to address many aspects of freshwater fishing including food security and nutrition, innovation of aquaculture, future challenges of fresh water fishing industry and aquatic life, meeting the nutrition needs of the people, new foreign exchange earnings, and formulating a program to educate the fisher community on new discoveries. Specialists in aquaculture and inland fishing industry, experts in the field, university professors, and officials of relevant ministries as well as representatives of many organizations in the industry participated in the symposium. Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the symposium, State Minister Wedaarachchi emphasized that steps will be taken to expand the aquaculture and inland fisheries industry in order to fulfill the nutritional requirement of all the people in the country. Under this program, all arrangements have been made to implement an accelerated program to develop the inland fisheries industry as well as the brackish water fishing to first strengthen the economy of the fisher community and earn more foreign exchange to the country. He added that steps will be taken diligently to provide all the assistance and other relief needed for the program. Speaking further, Minister Wedaarachchi pointed out that the industry has failed to provide an adequate fish harvest to meet the needs of the people of Sri Lanka. “Freshwater fishing industry has a big responsibility to fulfill the nutritional requirement of the people. During my visit to Korea, I received a lot of knowledge on the freshwater fishery and the aquaculture industry. Those countries have made great strides in the industry. Many countries grow fish on land. It is not necessary to go to the ocean for fish catch. There is possibility to cultivate most demanded fish varieties in the world on land,” the Minister said adding that he has given clear instructions to commence those fish cultivations. The National Aquatic Resources Development Authority has already commenced the work with cultivation of mud crabs in about 51 acres of barren paddy land in Rekawa area in Tangalle, he said. “Similarly, we started the necessary activities for fresh and saltwater shrimp farming targeting foreign exchange. This shrimp farming will enable us to earn more income by supplying shrimp for the tourism industry and provide employment opportunities for a large number of our youths.” “Our government has realized the value of this inland fishing industry and it is driven by a visionary program. The highest yield of the inland fisheries in Sri Lanka has been recorded in 2018. Accordingly, the freshwater fish harvest in Sri Lanka is over 88,000 metric tons,” the Minister said.