Bagerhat district is renowned for commercially producing giant freshwater prawns, which is an important export commodity besides being a popular delicacy across the country. The production volume of giant freshwater prawns has been on the decline in recent time due to shortage of good quality prawn fries and rising cost of feed, making farmers wary.
The local shrimp cultivators’ association believes that the country’s export volume of prawns could be tripled is these issues are addressed and resolved.
Giant freshwater prawns, locally known as ‘golda chingri’, have distinctive tiger-striped brown or black shells, can reach lengths of 35-40 centimetres each, and just four or prawns can weigh up to total one kilogramme.
However, these prawns take around a year of care to reach their full size, thereby requiring a lengthy cultivation process. Medium and large-sized prawns are usually exported, while smaller-sized prawns are sold domestically at Tk 700-800 per kg. Larger prawns currently fetch a market price of Tk 1,800-1,900 per kg.
Many farmers engaged in prawn farming in Kachua upazila of Bagerhat have expressed concerns over the adverse impact of shortage of high-quality fries and soaring cost of feed on the production of this much sought after export item.
“We are struggling to source good quality fries, while the cost of feed has skyrocketed. This is disrupting the production of prawns and hindering export potential,” said Gopal Das, a local prawn farmer.
Fakir Mohitul Islam Sumon, president of Bagerhat Shrimp Cultivators’ Association, stressed for government support to address the issues.
“If farmers have access to high-quality prawn fry and reasonably priced feed, the production could be increased by three times. Additionally, government-led training programmes for farmers could help improve yields and exports,” he said.
The Department of Fisheries, however, suggested the farmers to modernise their farming practices to boost production. “By using subsidised electricity, improving feed quality, and ensuring virus-free fry production, farmers can enhance prawn size and yields considerably. Increasing pond depth and adopting modern farming techniques will also help in this regard. We are encouraging farmers to shift from traditional to modern farming methods to improve productivity and export capacity,” said ASM Russel, district fisheries officer in Bagerhat.