Bangladesh is set to start piloting vannamei shrimp production from January next year to help increase the shipment of frozen shrimp abroad, sources said.
To this effect, the Department of Fisheries (DoF) has selected lands and entrepreneurs for farming the variety in Khulna and Cox's Bazar districts on a pilot basis.
Currently, vannamei is a leading item in the world shrimp market because of its affordable price and the country's shrimp exporters have been demanding for long to include the hybrid variety of edible crustaceans in their export basket.
According to DoF and frozen fish exporters, Shushilan, a non-government development organisation (NGO) and M.U Sea Foods Ltd have been selected for vannamei piloting in Paikgachha upazila in Khulna.
Besides, Golden Aqua Shrimp Ltd will start its pilot project in Cox's Bazar district.
Wishing anonymity, an official at the DoF said one project will be launched at the saline water centre of Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI) at Paikgachha upazila.
Another will be started in Cox's Bazaar area. Some 20 acres of lands will be brought under each project for vannamei culture in these areas, he said.
The whole farming process will be overseen by the DoF, so that bio-security system is ensured strictly. The DoF will also provide necessary training to the entrepreneurs and a committee of experts who will be involved with projects.
The DoE official, however, said they will allow commercial production basing on the outcome of the experiments.
Contacted, President of Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association (BFFEA) Kazi Belayet Hossain said they are preparing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will be signed by the BFRI and the entrepreneurs for the Paikgachha project.
He said they will also complete the necessary formalities for another project in Cox's Bazar by this week.
Hossain said the entrepreneurs will make all required financing for vannamei piloting including import of the shrimp fry.
The BFFEA president said they incurred huge losses in the last five to seven years as Bangladesh's black tiger species lost its competiveness in key global markets like the United States and European Union (EU).
Currently more than 75 per cent of the total world shrimp production is vannamei. Some 32 countries are culturing such species of shrimp.
"So, if we want the competitiveness (of our shrimp in world market), vannamei production is essential," Hossain added.
Bangladesh exports only 2.0 per cent of the international demand for frozen shrimp, according to the Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation (BSFF).
The country once boasted 110 frozen fish factories occupying the second position among the total export-oriented sectors even a decade ago. But the number has come down to as low as 50 at present.
Unavailability of exportable fish, especially shrimp, in the local market is the key reason behind this worst situation in the industry, insiders have said.
Chief Scientific Officer of BFRI's Shrimp Research Station at Bagerhat Dr. Khan Kamal Uddin Ahmed thinks Bangladesh also can go for vannamei production considering the global context of shrimp exports.
He said strict measures should be in places to ensure the bio-security so that local species of shrimp are not affected.
However, the country also needs to make a good study over the profitability of vannamei production, he viewed.
Some key vannamei producing countries like Vietnam have already incurred losses because of different reasons including early mortality syndrome, he mentioned.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data, the country earned from shrimp export US $ 472.37 million in fiscal year (FY) 2015-16 while $446.04 million in 2016-17, $408.71 million in FY 2017-18 and $361.14 million in 2018-19.
The overall shipment of frozen fish also declined to $500.40 million in FY 2018-19 from $508.43 million in 2017-18, the statistics also showed.
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