A new plague swimming through the shrimp farms of China and South-East Asia is making ripples in the United States and Europe, where prawn prices have jumped to record highs in recent months.
Consumers had better get used to paying more for their tempura and wanton soup.
“The shortage is going to last at least a couple of years, maybe longer,” predicted Matthew Briggs, an aquaculture consultant for Ridley Aquafeed with more than a decade of experience in Southeast Asia's shrimp industry.
Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS), the latest epidemic to hit Asia's booming shrimp industry, first raised its head on Chinese farms in 2009, and gradually spread to Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.
