The government has approved the commercial cultivation of vannamei shrimp -- also known as king prawn -- in Bangladesh. The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock approved the cultivation of vannamei shrimp in a letter to the Director General of the Fisheries Department on March 29. At the same time, guidelines for commercial shrimp cultivation in Bangladesh were provided. Vannamei shrimp now accounts for 77 percent of the world's shrimp trade. This species of shrimp – also known as the whiteleg shrimp is now being commercially cultivated in 62 countries.  Of these, 15 are in Asia. The demand for vannamei shrimp in the global market is high as the price is lower than that of Bagda shrimp. Read more: Climate change: Shrimp farming endangered in Khulna Bangladesh’s shrimp export has been in decline in the past few years as the country mainly cultivates and exports freshwater shrimp species such as black tiger shrimp, or ‘bagda’, and scampi shrimp, or ‘galda’. Exporters have been urging the government to allow commercial cultivation of King Prawn. The shrimp exporters of Khulna thanked the authorities for implementing their long-standing demand. Meanwhile, local shrimp producers have expressed concern over the development as they’re not well equipped to produce vannamei shrimp locally.  Abdur Rahim, a local shrimp producer from Khulna’s Paikgacha upazila said: “If the commercial cultivation of vannamei shrimp starts locally, we will face a huge loss in terms of shrimp production as the demand will decrease in the market.” Read more: Shrimp farmers in Bagerhat stare at starvation Among the shrimp exporting countries of Asia, commercial cultivation of the king shrimp was banned only in Bangladesh. Following approval from the Fisheries Department of the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry, Vannamei Shrimp has been harvested experimentally in six ponds of Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI) in Khulna’s Paikgacha upazila. And it has demonstrated significant commercial potential. What is vannamei shrimp? The vannamei species of shrimp, popularly known as the king prawn, is originally from the US state of Hawaii. Neighbouring India began commercial cultivation of vannamei shrimp in 2008. Meanwhile, in 1998, Thailand and China started commercial vannamei shrimp cultivation. Read More: Vannamei Shrimp pilot project shows commercial potential In 1987, the Philippines initiated commercial vannamei shrimp cultivation. Myanmar and Vietnam entered the market in the year 2000. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Global Aquaculture Alliance, The global vannamei shrimp production in 2018 was 35.5 lakh metric tons, while the bagda and galda shrimp production was 5.5 lakh metric tons and 2.4 lakh metric tons respectively. Apart from this, 3 lakh metric tons of other species of shrimps have been produced. Of the total global production of vannamei shrimp in 2018, 23.91 lakh metric tons were produced in China, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. In 2019, production in these countries increased to 31.12 lakh metric tons while Bangladesh's contribution to the market remained zero. According to experts, commercial production and export of Vanami shrimp can earn 3 to 4 billion US dollars in revenue and it will help Bangladesh regain its position in the global shrimp market. Read More: Shrimp industry reels from changing demand patterns, slump in world economy

Pilot project of producing Vannamei Shrimp or King Prawn in Khulna is showing chances for the fish to emerge as an alternative to Bagda Shrimp or Tiger Prawn. Once produced successfully, the fish has the potential to increase the presence of the country’s potential shrimp industry in the global arena. Vannamei Shrimp has been experimentally harvested for the second time in six ponds of Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI) in Khulna’s Paikgasa upazila following the approval from Fisheries Department under the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry. Also read: Gel-injected shrimps seized in Khulna, 18 held The project was proved successful during the harvesting programme on Friday. According to project sources, 72 percent of the world’s shrimp market is occupied by Vannamei Shrimp. As production of this fish isn’t widespread in Bangladesh, the country has to compete for 28 percent of market share through exporting Freshwater Prawn (Golda Shrimp) and Tiger Prawn. Besides, the prices of Vannamei Shrimp are much lower than Freshwater and Tiger Prawns. As a result, Bangladeshi Shrimp traders have to incur losses due to exporting costly Golda and Bagda Shrimps at the rate of Vannamei Shrimp. Through semi-intensive process, around 1,500 kilograms of Golda and Bagda Shrimps can be produced in an acre of area, while the production capacity is at least 5,000kg for Vannamei Shirmp within the same space. If commercial production of Vannamei Shrimp gains pace in Bangladesh, Shrimp production will increase fivefold in the next five years. Also read: Shrimps inflated with jelly seized in Jashore The Vannamei Shrimp harvesting programme was inaugurated by Mohammad Yamin Chowdhury, Secretary of the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry. Kh Mahbubul Haque, Director General of the Fisheries Department, Yahia Mahmud, Director General of BFRI, and Momotaz Begum, Paikgasa Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), among others, were present at the programme.

Bangladesh should go for commercial cultivation of vannamei species of shrimp or king prawn to capture the global market. The king prawn currently accounts for 80% of global market share, where Bangladesh has no presence. Bangladesh is falling behind as commercial cultivation of the species is still far away. It's now mostly in the stage of pilot projects. Also read: Govt determined to end shrimp production & exportation problems: Rezaul This subject was discussed on Sunday by shrimp exporters and cultivators in a seminar at the Khulna’s Shrimp Tower. At the seminar, they demanded that commercial cultivation of vannamei be allowed instead of running pilot projects. Exporters and cultivators are thus unable to get loans, they said. Also read: Shrimp farmers count losses from cyclone in Koyra Speakers at the seminar said that there is no alternative to vannamei as the production of tiger shrimp and prawn are decreasing in the country. To save the waning shrimp industry, government’s intervention is needed along with the permission to cultivate vannamei commercially. Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association has been appealing to the government for the last 20 years to allow the cultivation of vannamei shrimp to keep the shrimp industry alive. As a result, the government allowed the pilot cultivation of this variety of shrimp in September 2019. The project is being piloted at the Paikgachha Saltwater Center in Khulna under the Department of Fisheries and the Fisheries Research Institution. The average production is more than 9 tons per hectare. Read Shrimps inflated with jelly seized in Jashore The association provided statistics that show the average production of tiger shrimp in Bangladesh is 341 kg per hectare. In neighbouring India, the average production of vannamei is 7,102 per kg hectare. This means that the production of vannamei is 6,761 kg more per hectare than that of tiger shrimp. Vice President of Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association S. Humayun Kabir said that due to lack of raw material (shrimp), only 28 out of 105 frozen fish processing and exporting companies in the country are operational and remaining have closed. The production is meeting only 10-15 per cent of the capacity of the companies and as a result, the processing cost is also increasing. This industry has come to the brink of collapse. To revive this industry, there is no alternative to increasing production by cultivating vannamei. Fourteen other Asian countries have been exporting vannamei, he said. Read Crocodile rescued at Bagerhat shrimp enclosure freed in the Sundarbans He demanded that permission be given for commercial production of vannamei shrimp and save the industry.