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Local production of live food for aquaculture to slash the import bill

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Manufacturing and packaging plant in Hambantota

 

By Hiran H. Senewiratne

The local Artemia rearing industry is poised to replace the necessity of importing cysts thus helping to save the outflow of foreign exchange spent on aquaculture.

Artemia cysts are shrimp eggs with an excellent hatching rate and Artemia cysts nauplii are well-known as the ideal live food for ornamental fish and prawns in farms.

Nishantha Sandabarana, Chairman Lanka Salt Limited (LSL) in Hambatota told The Island Financial Review that the Company is now in the process of taking  steps to increase the production of Artemia. It is a microscopic invertebrate living being which inhabits in salterns, a source that provides high protein nutritional value for ornamental fish and prawns in farms.” he said.

“At present it is naturally germinating at the Palatupanna salterns close to Bundalama wildlife reserve and with that we are able to manufacture Artemia for local consumption to meet about 10 percent of the total local requirement. To increase this 50 acres have been allocated within the salterns to start producing them in a big way, ” Sandabarana said.

He said that Artemia Cysts nauplii are well-known as the ideal live food for ornamental fish and prawns and there is a huge local and international market for the product. Currently Sri Lanka imports 90 percent of the local requirement, and we are on track to boosting the local production of this feed important for aquatic animals. Encouragingly, the Artemia varieties that are found in local lagoons are unique with an excellent 80 percent hatching rate, he said.

Lanka Salt Limited (LSL) Chairman Nishantha Sandabarana shows a premium quality locally produced tin of dry Artemia cysts, a live feed used in aquaculture. A 150-gram tin costs Rs. 1,700 which he says is way cheaper than the imported stuff of similar quality.

He said that they have sent several officials to Vietnam to further train them on the techniques. “Once the initial phase is fully in progress we should be able to double the production. At present we are producing 1,500 tins of 150 grams for a year, he said.

” The nutritive value of the freshly hatched nauplii and the advantage of using the dry cysts as a source of live feed brine shrimp is highly important. Artemia cysts are used very extensively throughout the world in most of the hatcheries of both freshwater and marine fishes and crustaceans”, Sandabarana said.

LSL Assistant Production Manager Sachira Wickramaarchchi said that until recently the entire world demand of brine shrimp cysts was met by a few commercial companies from San Francisco, Utah and Canada.

“Because of the heavy demand, the price of Artemia cysts went up and it seems likely that the shortage of Artemia cysts might become a major constraint on the growth and development of aquaculture in future,” Wickramaarchchi said.

The National Aquatic Resources Agency (NARA) initiated a project on Artemia culture many years ago having realized the importance of Artemia as a live feed in aquaculture. An initial survey was conducted along the southern, western and northern coast of Sri Lanka as a precursor of the project.



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Exterminators PLC certified as great place to work

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Travis Ferreira, Executive Director, ‘Extermina tors PLC’, receiving the certificate from the GPTW team

Exterminators PLC announces that it has been certified as a Great Place to Work for the second year in a row. This achievement reaffirms our commitment to creating an environment that fosters learning, development, and success for our staff members. The certification was awarded after an independent audit and certification process conducted by the renowned organisation Great Place to Work (GPTW), which evaluated our company across various focus areas. Exterminators PLC excelled in the Trust Index, scoring high points in all focus areas during the certification process.

“The challenges we faced over the past twelve months were unprecedented. We are proud of our coworkers, who kept our business operating without interruption by working collaboratively and courageously and leaning on our collective creativity, innovation, and passion. Our slogan was ‘How can we’ keep the promise we made? and we constantly innovated to get the job done, no matter how difficult it was.

We are grateful to our coworkers who collaborated with us during these most challenging times and for their pure commitment and loyalty towards Exterminators PLC, which kept us moving forward despite unprecedented obstacles.” Marlon Ferreira the Managing Director said.

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SLT-MOBITEL mTunes introduces ‘Be a Millionaire’ promo

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Bringing elevated lifestyle experiences, SLT-MOBITEL is offering users the ultimate chance to turn music into wealth with its new ‘Be a Millionaire’ promo on mTunes.mTunes is a digital lifestyle service that allows customers to personalise their Caller Ring Back Tone (CRBT) with their favourite songs or audio content. It adds a unique and personalised touch to phone calls, allowing customers to express their originality and preferences with their loved ones.

With a vast collection of songs on the mTunes platform, the ‘Be a Millionaire’ promo offers users the opportunity to connect with their hearts’ content and win big cash prizes. From September 1st to November 30th, 2023, the ‘Be a Millionaire’ promo on mTunes promises incredible prizes for lucky participants. The grand prize is an amazing Rupees One million (Rs. 1,000,000) with additional rewards of Rs. 100,000 for the second winner and Rs. 50,000 for the third place. But the path to wealth does not end; seven more lucky winners will receive Rs. 10,000 each, and every week, there will be twelve lucky winners of Rs. 10,000 each in cash prizes.

Participating in the promotion is easy. Existing and new CRBT users have the chance to win these fantastic prizes, including becoming millionaires, by simply activating more mTunes during the promotional period. With multiple cash prizes available, there are numerous opportunities to win every week. The ‘Be a Millionaire’ promotion is a golden opportunity to make dreams come true.

Users can increase their chances of winning by simply activating more mTunes daily. Users can also experience the fun, excitement, and entertainment offered by mTunes and enjoy the world of music.

For more information, contact mTunes at 777 or visit mtunes.mobitel.lk

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Lanka can build strong tourism ‘eco-brand’: UN official

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United Nations Resident Representative to Sri Lanka, Azusa Kobota

By NETHMI RAJAWASAM

ECONOMYNEXT –Sri Lanka can build an ‘eco-brand’ catering especially to younger tourists who feel strongly about the environment, United Nations Resident Representative to Sri Lanka, Azusa Kobota said.

About 70 percent of global travellers prioritise sustainability in their holiday choices, marking a ten percent increase from 2021, while around 30 percent of travellers feel guilty about flying, due to carbon emissions, she said.

“As the world embraces green thinking during this time of economic recovery efforts, the objective of the tourism sector cannot simply be about increasing the number of inbound tourists,” Kobota said at an event marking World Tourism Day in Colombo.

“It has to be about enhancing their experience through green lenses, by implementing a responsible, eco-conscious paradigm for the sector and building a stronger eco-brand around the sustainable agenda for Sri Lanka,”

“This is no longer about reducing the trade offs between growing the industry and protecting the environment.

“We must see nature as our asset and solutions to be obtained for the exponential growth for our future generations.”

The sustainable tourism market is estimated to have earned 195 billion US dollars in 2022, and is expected to reach about 656 billion US dollars in 2032, she said.

“Tourists, particularly the younger generations from gen X,Y,Z are deeply, deeply conscious about the long term choices of their actions, and the adverse impact of tourists on the environment.

“Statistics show that a significant proportion of global travellers, about 30 percent, feel guilty about flying due to the environmental impact and 22 percent say they actively prefer public transport and bicycle rental options, over renting a car.”

Sri Lanka welcomed one million tourists by September 26 and is expecting more that 1.5 million tourists by the end of the year.

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