A shortage of harvest-sized black tiger shrimp has resulted in a shutdown of operations at several processing facilities in Bangladesh.
Only 47 out of 105 shrimp-processing factories in Bangladesh are currently operational, and of those still in operation, more than half are not operating at full capacity due to the material shortage, The Daily Star reported earlier this month, citing a report from the Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association (BFFEA).
Most of the affected plants are located in the coastal Khulna Division, where much of the country’s aquaculture industry is concentrated. The build-out of Bangladesh’s shrimp aquaculture sector, completed over the past 30 years with the hope that its focus on black tiger shrimp would help it gain market share in the U.S. and Europe, is now in jeopardy, according to the newspaper. Just 32 out of 60 shrimp processing plants in Khulna remain operational, and only 15 of 43 factories in Chattogram Division have been able to maintain operations through the supply shortage. About 6 million people in the South Asia nation have been directly or indirectly affected by the closures of the shrimp factories.
Industry experts have said current supply levels of black tiger shrimp and freshwater shrimp in Bangladesh are not sufficient to keep many processing plants running. BFFEA Vice President S Humayun Kabir blamed the “absence of advanced and long-term planning” for the crisis. He said Bangladesh currently produces between 40,000 and 45,000 metric tons (MT) of shrimp a year, which accounts for just 10 percent of its annual capacity of 400,000 MT of shrimp.
Other issues facing Bangladesh’s shrimp industry include shortages of shrimp fries and aquafeed, caused by a combination of recent cyclones and a supply crunch caused by COVID-19. And banks have added new and more demanding conditions before providing loans to shrimp companies, making lack of financing a mounting issue for the sector, Kabir said. For those companies that are able to obtain it, many use the loans for other business purposes not related to aquaculture, Transparency International Bangladesh President Anwarul Kadir.
Black tiger shrimp from Bangladesh has also failed in competing with cheaper vannamei from many countries, such as India and Vietnam, leading to Bangladesh’s shrimp exports to decline.
Bangladesh’s shrimp export value reached a peak of USD 550 million (EUR 466.6 million) in fiscal year 2013-2014 before hitting a long decline. The country’s shrimp export value fell 1.15 percent year-on-year to USD 328 million (EUR 278.2 million) in fiscal year 2020-2021, according to Bangladesh’s Export Promotion Bureau.
In response, Bangladesh has initiated a number of trials of vannamei farming in a bid to revive its ailing shrimp industry. Earlier this year, the first batch of one million vannamei post-larvae imported from Thailand has been raised in four ponds operated by the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI) in Paikgachha, Khulna, Bangladesh.
Photo courtesy of Seafood Trade Intelligence Portal
