

The Sri Lankan government has established a Global Aquaculture Fund as part of an initiative to develop its national fisheries sector and participate in the global fisheries industry.
The government announced the fund’s creation, along with $100,000 of initial seed funding into it, at the recent 31st Session of the Committee of Fisheries of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which was held in Rome in mid June 2014.
Also as part of this initiative, the Sri Lankan government’s Board of Investment approved a $100 million investment into a fish farm in Chilaw by Senura Aquaculture Lanka, a joint venture between Israel-based AR Aquaculture Projects, an aquaculture operator, and Ryder Holdings, a Sri Lanka-based consortium.
Senura has been approved by the government to develop 1,000 acres of privately-owned lagoon land in Chilaw, north western Sri Lanka.
According to local media, the Food and Agriculture Organsation’s director general Jose Graziano da Silva, commended Sri Lanka’s role in the fisheries sector as in line with the guidelines and policy framework of FAO.