Sri Lanka is endowed with an enormous stock of fishing resources – almost incalculable – thanks to its territorial waters covering an expanse of 21,500sq. km., the UN-Mandated Exclusive Economic Zone of 517 000sq.km., 260 000ha of freshwater bodies, 158 000ha of lagoons & estuaries, 71 000ha of mangrove zones, mudflats & salt marshes, and the growing aquaculture industry of the country. Sri Lanka’s total marine fish catch amounted to 415,490Mt (242,580Mt of coastal fish catch and 172,910Mt of Offshore and Deep-Sea fish catch). The inland and aquaculture fish production in 2019 was 90,340Mt. The total export volume of seafood and fishery products was 28,771Mt which brought in US$81.3 million in foreign exchange earnings.