Bangladesh is endowed with a porous 580-kilometre coastline, its brackish water in Khulna, Bagerhat, and Satkhira in the southwest creating a perfect setting for shrimp cultivation. This gives around 800,000 farmers a means of livelihood and each year the country earns some precious dollars by exporting shrimp to Europe, USA and a few other destinations.
However, since hitting its historic high point ($510m) in the 2014-15 financial year, Bangladesh's earnings from shrimp exports had dropped to $320m in the last fiscal year. The sector showed some promise of a post-Covid rebound in the first six months of the current financial year, but nothing significant.
Industry sources say a policy indecision on allowing Bangladeshi growers to produce and export highly productive whiteleg shrimp or vannamei has long been holding Bangladesh from competing in the global shrimp export market, which is a whooping $32 billion in yearly trade. By now, nearly 80% of the market is dominated by vannamei.
For too long, Bangladesh has remained content with its traditional shrimp export basket of Bagda (Black Tiger) and freshwater scampi, while the whole world has developed a taste for the vannamei.
By gradually shifting to the vannamei, India has more than doubled its shrimp export earnings between 2009 and 2021. China and the Philippines adopted vannamei in '80s, while Vietnam and Myanmar also started commercial vannamei farming over two decades ago.
As the adage goes, it's better late than never.
Bangladesh's Department of Fisheries (DoF) is now coming out of its conservative shell over vannamei and giving permissions to companies to go for trial cultivation, but progress has been very slow. While only three companies managed to get the go ahead, over a dozen others who sought approval for vannamei cultivation are still waiting for their turns to come.
Lead by example
Shyamal Das, Managing Director of MU Sea Foods Ltd, is Bangladesh's first entrepreneur to successfully try vannamei cultivation in this country in 2021, and he is going for a second year trial next month.
If his experience is something to go by, the government should allow full-scale cultivation of vannamei in this country sooner rather than later, so that Bangladesh can quickly catch up with its Asian neighbours in shrimp exports to Europe, USA, Japan, and the Middle East.
"I've got nearly 9,000 kilograms of vannamei per hectare in our trial ponds in Paikgacha and, through further trial and technology application, it has the potential to go upto 15,000 kg/hct. We can harvest it in 90 days’ time, as opposed to 160 days required for rearing Bagda. Vannamei is highly productive, less susceptible to diseases and has a ready export market," said Das, also a Director of Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association.
MU Sea Foods Ltd has already exported vannamei to Dubai from last year's trial cultivation. It is now eyeing markets in Europe and China.
Shyamal Das said they brought over a million quality vannamei fry from CP Thai and special feed from India early last year. He said if one can invest well in vannamei cultivation, he can expect good results.
Pabitra Kumar Sarkar oversees shrimp development work for CP Foods and provides technical support for vannamei cultivation in Bangladesh.
He said: "it's not about one or the other, it's not about Bagda or vannamei, rather one should look at this as different options. One can make profit by farming Bagda as well, big size Black Tigers have their own market, At the same time the vannamei option is a good one too."
A former deputy director of the Department of Fisheries, Prafulla Kumar Sarkar considers cultivation of vannamei is crucial to cater to the needs of the market and Bagda can be grown at the same time too.
