The country is going to adopt an 'action plan' to raise production of black tiger shrimp and boost export of the protein-rich item.
"The Bangladesh Action Plan for Branding Black Tiger Shrimp" will be adopted also to develop a business model integrating the sustainability agenda for social, environmental and food safety in the shrimp supply chain, said officials.
The country is one of the key shrimp exporters in the world.
Black tiger shrimp (Bagda), a saline water fish, comprises 82-85 per cent of the country's total shrimp export, according to the Bangladesh Frozen Fish Exporters Association (BFFEA).
The sector insiders thought that implementation of such plan would help revive the export trend of shrimp which was going through a critical time for last few years.
An official at the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (MoFL) told the FE that the draft of the action plan has been prepared and likely to be adopted within March next year.
The plan will be implemented involving MoFL, Ministry of Commerce, Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), the Netherlands-based Solidaridad Network Asia, Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation (BSFF) and other stakeholders, she said.
She said the Solidaridad Network has been facilitating preparation of the strategic action plan towards inclusive and sustainable business growth of the shrimp sector.
She said that branding of Bangladeshi black tiger shrimp, which is almost an organic fish, in the world will be one of the key focuses of the action plan.
Country Manager (Bangladesh) of Solidaridad Selim Reza Hasan said that his organisation, with the collaboration of relevant stakeholders, has prepared the strategic action plan for the development of the shrimp industry and exports.
The action plan includes recommendations for improved management practices at all levels of the supply chain.
He said that this starts with suggestions about improved management practices at hatchery, increasing productivity of shrimp farms and improving the control of quality and traceability in the supply chain.
The action plant also targets improving the quality of processing to ensure that Bangladeshi shrimp reaches the best matching market segments in the international market.
"The set of recommendations need to ensure that all stakeholders in the supply chain, with a special emphasis on primary producers, will be able to sustain and improve the business growth of the shrimp industry," he said.
The national action plan also harnessed the potential of sustainable shrimp sub-sector growth of Bangladesh, which is developed through wider stakeholders' consultations and analyses of the sector plans and policies, he added.
However, shrimp exports fell for a fourth consecutive year in financial year 2017-18 (FY'18) amid persistent weak demand in the international market for the locally farmed shrimp.
Export earnings from shrimp fell 8.37 per cent to US$ 408 million in FY'18, according to the EPB.
In terms of quantity, shrimp exports also declined about 9.0 per cent to 0.036 tonnes in 2017-18, the lowest since 2001-02. Some 0.039 tonnes of shrimp were shipped in 2016-17.
Bangladesh fetched the highest $590 million from shrimp exports in 2011-12, but it began to decline since FY'14 both in terms of value and volume.
Managing Director of M U Sea Food Ltd, one of the leading shrimp exporters, Shyamal Das said the shrimp sector has been going through a critical time as shipment is showing continuous plunge.
"Our local indigenous shrimp are falling behind the competition with commercially farmed 'vannamei' shrimp of East Asia and Latin America," he said.
"We have to focus now on branding of our organic shrimp (black tiger) which could be sold at much higher rate in Europe, North America and elsewhere in the world."
At the same time, good production of the shrimp will have to be ensured without any environmental hazards, he added.
He said nearly 1.0 million farmers and traders are employed in the shrimp sector involving 0.3 million hectares of land in the southwestern coastal districts in the country.
"We expect, the action plan will address such of our needs," he said.
