India's vannamei shrimp farmers hit sales obstacle

 

 

Vannamei shrimp farmers in India's Andhra Pradesh state may not be able to sell their produce as the species was brought into the country through illegal routes.

 

The harvesting will start in six to eight weeks' time, but the shrimps were cultivated without the permission of the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA), Fisheries Department and the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA). Thus, farmers will not be able to sell their produce in the local market or overseas.

 

So far, those regulating agencies have not stepped in to resolve the issue.

 

It is estimated that the total volume of vannamei shrimp harvest from districts like East Godavari, West Godavari, Guntur, Krishna and Nellore would exceed 60,000 tonnes.

 

There are also concerns that the vannamei broodstock used for the cultivation were smuggled into India, indicating there was no proper testing and quarantine examination and that infected shrimp seeds may have been cultivated.

 

Another concern is that the infection may have even spread to other farms that are cultivating traditional shrimp species such as Black Tiger.