State Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Dilip Wedaarachchi says that the fisheries industry would be made the third largest foreign exchange earner in the country by the year 2020. He also pledges to create 100,000 employment opportunities in the sector by 2020. The Ministry has declared a Fisheries Week in connection with World Fisheries Day which falls on the 21st of November.

The minister called to mind that when the government came to power there was a ban imposed by the European Union on the country's fish products. He pointed out that the present government successfully negotiated the removal of the ban and started a "Blue Economic Program" to uplift the fishing industry and its community that was facing economic drawbacks day by day.

The "Blue Economic Program" was launched after extensive study of how other countries have implemented the program to reap the maximum benefits from their oceans. These efforts are becoming a reality with the Blue-Green budget introduced by the government for 2018