Sri Lanka has exported its first batch of low-salt, dried fish and fish chips (Maldive fish) produced using a new method, the air condition dehydration system.
According to Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera, moving away from the traditional method of drying fish on the beach in the sun, the new technology helps the fish, usually a type of tuna, be dried or processed, using ‘air condition dehydration’.
“With this method, we can present dried fish products that are very suitable for human consumption to the market. This will give us the foreign exchange that the country needs,” he said.
The Minister said as this method retains the fish oils, the quality of dried fish produced is of a higher level.
Minister Amaraweera pointed out that this new dehydration method can be used for several other products in the country as well.
The export of the first container of 10,000 kg of dried fish and fish chips using the new technology was done on Sunday (Jan 14) by Megafish, a company in Pahajjawa in the Southern Province.
The batch of dried fish and fish chips produced in Sri Lanka will be exported to Australia and Korea, making it the first such export to be done by Sri Lanka. (NewsWire)
