The drop in prawn prices seems to be a cause for worry for the mechanized fishing sector in Vizag, Kakinada, Machilipatnam and a few other places in coastal Andhra Pradesh.
Prawns have become cheaper by over Rs 100 to Rs 300 per kg (depending on variety). Mechanized boat owners allege that exporters are bringing down prices, leaving them with huge losses.
Exporters, however, said surplus supply from Ecuador has brought down the price.
Fishermen who resumed fishing in mid-June are returning with a good catch. Fishermen said each boat has come back with 400 to 500 kg brown prawn, some tiger prawn, white prawn and a few varieties of fish). But the plunge in price is a dampener for them. Suraida Satyanarayana, general secretary, Visakha Dolphin Boat Operators’ Welfare Association, said most fishermen are disappointed as shrimp price has gone down.
“Sea food exporters have fixed the price brown prawn at Rs360/ kg. In July 2023, brown prawn fetched Rs 400/ kg. Similarly, the price of tiger prawn has dropped to Rs 950 from Rs 1,250 a kg. White prawn price has dipped to Rs 300 from Rs 400 per kg, leaving boat owners incurring a loss of at least Rs one lakh in each voyage,” he said.
Seafood exporters prefer Vannamei prawn citing high demand, he added. “The value of marine products exports has declined due to decrease in average export price of shrimp compared to previous year. Our major markets for a variety of shrimp are the USA, China, EU and a few other countries, where we are suffering due to oversupply from Ecuador and a few other countries,” said V Padmanabham, a seafood exporter in Vizag.
Marine products exports from Andhra Pradesh have increased by over six per cent in terms of quantity and decreased by over 5 per cent in terms of value (in US dollar) of the product in 2023-24 when compared to 2022-23. Andhra Pradesh shipped 3,47,349.32 tonnes of seafood worth 19,406.15 crore ($2,367.6 million) during 2023-24.
AP contributed 19.18 per cent of seafood export from India through various ports by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) in 2023-24. In 2022-22, Andhra Pradesh had exported 2,67,165.91 MT of seafood worth Rs 16,864 crore ($ 2,291.64 million)
“The demand for Vannamei, white-leg prawn cultured by aquaculture farms in Andhra Pradesh, has increased in the global market when compared to sea shrimp for their mild-sweet flavour, firm texture and culinary versatility,” said Prasad Naik, assistant director, MPEDA.
In the current situation, boat owners are not incurring losses and seafood exporters are not gaining either, he added.
Fishing is a labour-oriented industry and sometimes rough sea affects the catch. Like farmers, fishermen are victims whereas as exporters and consumers are beneficiaries, say owners of mechanized boats. Seafood is much better than broiler chicken and red meat as sea food has Omega-3 fatty acids and seems to be the most beneficial to heart health, they added.