The country's frozen fish export remains unable to recover from its decade-long slump, despite promising figures in the last two fiscal years.
Earnings fell by 27.39% to $208.27 million during the first five months of the current FY23 from $286.85 million in the corresponding period (Jul-Nov) of last FY22, according to the latest Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data.
Industry insiders attribute the reversal to a decline in the demand for the expensive fish products in the up markets, mainly in the European Union, under the influence of high-rated inflation amid the Russia-Ukraine war.
"A major reason is that we could not introduce a low-cost variety of shrimp like vannamei despite several attempts over the years," said an insider.
Export of the item has been on the decline for over a decade apparently due to the scarcity of raw materials and the fall in global demand for the expensive local varieties of shrimp, they pointed out.
In FY11, export earnings from local frozen and live fishes, including shrimp, stood at $625.04 million and has been on a slide since, except for FY14 when the sector earned the highest $638.19 million.
The downward trend continued until FY20 to reach $456.15 million, before recovering to some extent in the following two FYs -- as export earnings rose to $477 million and $532.94 million respectively in FY21 and FY22 respectively, EPB data showed.
Fish and shrimp exporters said both prices and demand for frozen fish declined in the major markets, especially in the European Union, because the global market is flooded with vannamei.
Local production of shrimp has been declining for years due to shortage of raw materials, scarcity of farming areas and lack of policy support, they also pointed out.
Moreover, in the recent months, local fish exporters were facing a severe crisis due to a stockpile of exports as the Russia-Ukraine war has severely dented the global demand for the expensive item, they added.
Industry insiders revealed that a group of people do not want vannamei to be commercially cultivated as they thought it could damage the local varieties.
Another group was also against vannamei as they could bring funding for local baghda farming, they also alleged.
They want the government to allow a certain area for vannamei farming with hatcheries and other required infrastructure and guidelines in this regard for a breakthrough.