Chairman of the Indian Ocean (Pvt.) Ltd. affiliated to the South Korean company, Dejin which is responsible for the Korea-Sri Lanka joint programme of Octopus Harvesting Soo – Yong- Shin recently briefed the State Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Dilip Wedaarachchi that the first stock of Octopus processed for export purposes is ready to be sent to South Korea.
Octopus is a common species in the Sri Lankan sea and not consumed within the country as a seafood. With the implementation of this project Sri Lanka will be able to earn foreign exchange utilizing this vastly unreaped fish resource, Ministry sources said.
This is currently executed as a pilot project only in Jaffna and Pukkulam in Puttalam. Dejin Company has introduced Octopus catching Traps and a special training has been given to fisher community with regard to the use of traps, catching, storage and transportation of Octopus.
It has been estimated that this will earn nearly USD 5 million of foreign exchange per annum.