Ordinary shrimp is no longer an exotic offering. With production and availability increasing dramatically in the last two decades, shrimp seems to have lost its halo among European and US customers. Restaurants have replaced ordinary shrimp with organic variety or rare species like codfish and cuttle, national president of the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) Anwar Hashim told FE. Reports by the UN suggest that shrimp imports by the US and Japan are decreasing.

Oversupply

“The declining preference is a concern, given that frozen shrimp accounts for 50% of our total exports. It also throws open an opportunity that India can exploit. We have the expertise and resources to rear and export the rarer varieties.”

Global shrimp production has increased dramatically in the last two decades, with the shift from capture fisheries into farm fisheries. The emergence of China in the trade has dramatically altered the dynamics. From 2000 to 2003, farmed marine shrimp production in China increased at an annual rate of 43%, while in 2004 the production witnessed a very low growth rate of only 8.5% over 2003. In 2005, the figure hit a historical record reaching 624,000 tonne, up by 16% over 2004. Preliminary figures show that marine shrimp production in China kept growing in 2006. P Vannamei continues to be the single species dominating shrimp production in China accounting for more than 70% of total farmed shrimp production.

Steven Leavitt of Freakonomics reveals that consumption of shrimp by US citizens has grown tremendously. Between 1980 and 2005, the amount of shrimp consumed by Americans nearly tripled, from 1.4 pounds per person to 4.1 pounds per person. He explains that demand increased substantially because prices dropped sharply. “The real price of shrimp fell by about 50% between 1980 and 2002. When quantity rises and prices are falling, that has to mean that producers have figured out cheaper and better ways to produce shrimp,” he writes.

India suffers

The entry of the cheaper white shrimp (vanammei) has meant stiff competition for the Indian Black Tiger. It is estimated that Indian shrimp exports to the US fell by 24.2% in volume and 21.8% in value during January-September 2007, when compared with the same period in ’06. Operating margins have disappeared and from the fisherman to the aquaculture farmer and to the processor, all are battling negative cash flows. The farm level price of Black Tiger in India is the lowest ever and farmers are averse to seeding their farms, SEAI sources told FE. “With shrimp losing its value in the menu, prices are likely to suffer more pressure with production on the increase,” Anwar said.

Move for organic variety

Marine Products Export Development Authority has taken the lead in introducing organic aquaculture in India by availing the consultancy and technical collaboration of the Swiss Import Promotion Programme, Switzerland. The proposal submitted by them to the ministry envisages the implementation of an organic aquaculture project for brackish water shrimp Penaeus monodon (tiger shrimp) and the fresh water giant prawn Macro brachium rosenbergii (scampi), in the states of Kerala, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh.