Blue swimming crab (Portunus pelagicus) is caught in the shallow lagoons and coastal waters of northern and north-western Sri Lanka. The crabs are cooked, the meat is picked by hand, packed and pasteurised, which gives it a chilled shelf life of months. Pasteurised crab meat exported about US$20 million in 2025, mainly to the United States.

Grades

• Jumbo lump: the two large muscles from the swimming legs
• Lump: broken jumbo and large body pieces
• Special: smaller body meat
• Claw: darker, stronger-flavoured meat from the claws

Seafood import rules

Seafood into the EU must come from a processing plant on the EU’s approved list for Sri Lanka, with a health certificate and, for wild catch, a catch certificate. The United States requires the importer to follow FDA seafood HACCP rules, and some species fall under the US Seafood Import Monitoring Program. Tell us your market and we confirm a plant that is approved for it.

Who buys it

Seafood importers, restaurant distributors and processors making crab cakes and ready meals.

What to tell us for a quote

• The product, grade or specification you need, and a reference sample if you have one
• Quantity per order and how often you buy
• Pack size, packaging and labelling
• Destination port and the Incoterm you prefer
• Documents your market requires, such as a certificate of origin, phytosanitary certificate or lab test reports

Packing and shipping

Orders are packed to your instruction and shipped by sea in a full or shared container, or by air for samples and small lots, quoted FOB Colombo, CFR or CIF to your port. Products from several Sri Lankan suppliers can share one container through our consolidation service.

How to get a price: tell us the quantity, your specification and your destination port. We quote FOB Colombo, CFR or CIF, with lead time and minimum order, and arrange samples before an order.