Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Ornamental Fish Supply Chain in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Sri Lanka is one of the leading ornamental fish exporters globally, with total export earnings of around 15 million USD in 2019. The novel human coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has become a great threat to many industries worldwide, including the ornamental fish trade. The present study was conducted to explore the qualitative and quantitative impacts of the pandemic on the ornamental fish supply chain in the Western Province of Sri Lanka with a sample size of 100 respondents representing the key stakeholders of the supply chain. The results concluded that all the stakeholders experienced a negative impact on their business process with the ongoing pandemic. There was a general reduction in sales and along the supply chain, the fish exporters were the least affected sector (7 % reduction), followed by breeders and growers (31 %), and aquarium fish dealers (38 %). The stakeholders who handled a diversified fish stock managed to do better than those who dealt with a single fish species during the pandemic. The supply of fish feeds was one of the significant constraints for all the stakeholders during a complete and partial lockdown. As a positive outcome of the pandemic, 30 % of the fish exporters received an unexpected increased number of export orders from their buyers. Government intervention is crucial to rebuild and strengthen the impacted key players within the ornamental fish supply chain under the pandemic situation.