FinMin visits Barramundi farm

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake visited Oceanpick’s commercial scale oceanic Barramundi farm in Trincomalee, during his visit to the Eastern province to discuss budget suggestions with SME entrepreneurs.

The Minister met General Manager of Oceanpick, Fazli Nayeem, and Farm Managers Daniel Richardson and Fayas Buhary.

Oceanpick is a joint venture between a host of Sri Lankan investors including Aberdeen Holding, Chadstone, Kames of Scotland and well supported with strategic banking relationship with Amana Bank PLC.

The initiative has received much impetus from the Fisheries Ministry led by NAQDA, Sri Lanka Ports Authority and Sri Lanka Navy.

Oceanpick was set up in 2012 to pursue sustainable fish production in Sri Lanka and has now elevated Sri Lanka’s standing in the world aquaculture arena. The first phase of the project was completed with a US$ 4.5 million investment and a production capacity of 400 MT, but the company anticipates to more than double the capacity to 1,500 MT within the next couple of years Oceanpick also received an award from President Maithripala Sirisena at ‘Min Visithuru 2016’, an exhibition organized by the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Ministry along with the National Aquaculture Development Authority (NAQDA) earlier in August. The award was given in recognition of its status as the pioneer in marine aquaculture in Sri Lanka and in appreciation of its contributions to the aquaculture sector in the country.