The South Asian nation of Sri Lanka has launched a fully integrated digital platform for its shrimp sector, aiming to modernize farming practices and strengthen biosecurity as the industry looks to expand sustainably.

The Shrimp Industry Information System (SIIS), developed by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in partnership with Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Fisheries and National Aquaculture Development Authority (NAQDA), links farmers, laboratories, regulators, and policymakers through real-time data, The Morning reported.

The platform uses big data, IoT capabilities, and artificial intelligence to support food safety, traceability, and disease monitoring through water quality data and disease incidents reporting systems.

The system, which received funding from South Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, also provides digital licensing, as well as geographic information system (GIS) mapping and tools, to improve oversight and policy planning.

South Korea Ambassador to Sri Lanka Miyon Lee, who attended the launch of the platform, said the project could serve as a model for digital transformation in sustainable aquaculture.

The launch of the platform comes after NAQDA introduced a new set of rules to regulate the re-export of shrimp earlier this year, aiming to address concerns from local farmers and maintain the country’s competitiveness in global seafood markets. Under the new guidelines, only frozen, headless shrimp may be imported, and imports from countries facing trade restrictions will be banned. Health and antibiotic-free certification from exporting countries will also be mandatory.

On the processing side, factories will be required to keep foreign and domestic shrimp strictly separate during handling and cannot operate the facilities processing foreign shrimp near local shrimp farms in order to prevent cross-contamination.

Source - https://www.seafoodsource.com