Commercial farming of the vannamei shrimp has revolutionised the global shrimp industry over the last ten years with its outstanding yield potential, shorter production cycle, low cost of production, and increasing demand in international markets. The low yield potential and massive yield loss of black tiger shrimp due to disease outbreaks prompted shrimp-producing countries to introduce vannamei shrimp.
Currently, vannamei shrimp constitutes more than 80% of global shrimp production. The global shrimp market is estimated to reach USD 85.2 billion by 2030, which was USD 37.6 billion in 2021.
However, surprisingly, Bangladesh – a leading actor in the global shrimp industry- is yet to take policy initiatives for the commercial farming of vannamei shrimp. Bangladesh’s current shrimp yield (0.0347 tonnes/ha) is about seven times lower than the global average (2.47 tonnes/ha) and about twelve times lower than the average yield of neighbouring India. While other major shrimp-producing countries have significantly increased their national production by introducing vannamei shrimp, Bangladesh is still struggling to survive in the competitive global shrimp market with black tiger shrimp.
Shrimp farming industry
The shrimp industry in Bangladesh – popularly branded as the ‘white gold’ industry – is at a crossroads with declining areas, deficient production, and falling export earnings. Nevertheless, the shrimp industry in Bangladesh has been suffering from multiple risks, such as white spot disease (WSSV) prevalence, widespread mortality, massive yield loss, poor infrastructure, and market and price fluctuations. Despite excellent demand and price in domestic and international markets, Bangladesh’s shrimp industry has started to lose competitiveness due to a very low yield (0.0347 tonnes/ha) from the extensive farming system with black tiger shrimp.
Despite tariff advantages, Bangladesh has started to lose its export position in the main export destination US and EU, due to deficient shrimp production. Export earnings in 2020-21 from the shrimp industry have dropped by 35% from 2014-15. In 2020-21, Bangladesh exported 27,967 tonnes of shrimp, which was 54,891 tonnes in 2010-11.
In recent years, India has appeared as the world leader in shrimp production by commercial farming of vannamei shrimp. Since commercial production of vannamei shrimp started in 2010, India has achieved spectacular production success.
The Indian Government permitted large-scale cultivation in 2009 after enough trials and risk analysis studies. In 2019, India fetched USD 4.7 billion (24% of the global share) from exporting shrimp. Vietnam (USD 1.98 billion), Ecuador (USD 2.92 billion), and Indonesia (USD 1.34 billion) have achieved the same export successes. With the phenomenal growth of vannamei shrimp, the last ten years can be named the ‘decade of shrimp revolution’.
A larger farming area in Bangladesh
Though the shrimp area of Bangladesh (216,000 ha) is higher than the top two exporters – India (160,000 ha) and Ecuador (161,000 ha) – Bangladesh’s production (70,979 tonnes) is much lower than the production of India (682,300 tonnes), Ecuador (510,000 tonnes), and even Mexico (157,934 tonnes), and Thailand (362,910 tonnes).
On the other hand, demand for shrimp and prawns is rising gradually in the domestic markets. With the rising per capita income and economic development, the purchasing power of domestic middle-class consumers has increased. Given the increasing domestic demand and good prices in the domestic retail markets, shrimp exporters often fail to supply their expected volume. If this decreasing trend continues for the next five-year, Mexico, Brazil, the Philippines, Iran, Malaysia, and Venezuela are likely to come into the frontline of the global shrimp industry, pushing Bangladesh back.
As of today, there is no official document, scientific articles, or media reports about the commercial introduction of vannamei shrimp in Bangladesh. Out of 15 Asian shrimp-producing countries, 14 countries have already introduced vannamei shrimp commercially. In 2021, 13 private organisations started the experimental trial of vannamei shrimp with the official permission of the Department of Fisheries. Bangladesh’s delay in commercial cultivation of vannamei shrimp made the prospect of a billion-dollar shrimp industry uncertain.
If Bangladesh could start piloting, field trial, validation, and risk assessment in the early 2010s – when vannamei shrimp had already been established in India, Ecuador, Vietnam, China, and Indonesia – its shrimp industry could have been more competitive today.
To sustain the shrimp industry, the introduction of vannamei shrimp is now a reality for Bangladesh. Immediate policy support for the commercial cultivation of vannamei shrimp is necessary to boost the promising shrimp industry. However, the policy preparedness for Bangladesh’s shrimp industry is not enough to exploit the rising market opportunity.
Bangladesh has an excellent success story in intensive finfish farming, placing the country in the 3rd position in inland fish production globally. Commercial vannamei shrimp farming is semi-intensive type; thus, feed and capital intensive. Therefore, practical policy support, significant capital investment, structural changes, and farmers’ capacity building is essential for the rapid expansion of vannamei shrimp in areas with favourable biophysical conditions.
Bangladeshi farmers have successfully introduced many new breeds and exotic species to boost finfish production in Bangladesh. Farmers nowadays are more proactive and responsive to new technologies and varieties if they are profitable. Where hundreds of new crop varieties (native and exotic) and fish and animal breeds have been disseminated to the farmers due to better yield potential and profitability; why is Bangladesh confused about introducing this new shrimp species which is growing very well in other shrimp producing countries with similar ecosystems.
The revitalisation of the export-oriented shrimp industry is significant for the livelihood and socioeconomic development of coastal people and the national economy. Commercial production of high-yielding vannamei shrimp can strengthen the competitiveness of Bangladesh’s multi-billion-dollar shrimp industry. Therefore, immediate policy initiatives and support are necessary for the commercial cultivation of vannamei shrimp in coastal Bangladesh.
This is an edited post-logue in the Daily Sun by Md Roushon Jamal, PhD, a civil servant in the Ministry of Agriculture and can ben reached at roushonjamal@yahoo.com
