The Marine Products Export Development Authority has initiated efforts to revive black tiger shrimp farming after a gap of two decades.

The ₹8 crore Multi Species Aquaculture Complex, the first of its kind in the country at Vallarpadam, is a pointer to the initiative. It has production capacity of 20 million disease-free shrimp seeds per annum.

A Jayathilak, Chairman, MPEDA, said the demand and price for good quality tiger shrimp is very high in the international markets, especially Japan and the European Union.

Diversifying aquaculture

“We cannot put everything into the Vannamei shrimp basket to meet the surging export demand. World over, there is also a good demand for black tiger shrimps but its availability is less. A decade back, the situation was different, black tiger was the major item in the country’s export basket”, he told Business Line on the sidelines of the farm visit at the 8.5-acre aquaculture complex near Kochi.

The multi species hatchery and nursery for aquaculture will produce seeds/fingerlings of 6-7 commercially important species, which are of high export demand. These include Tiger shrimp, Asian seabass, Pompano, Cobia, Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia (GIFT) and Mud crab.This will help in diversifying the aquaculture output.

Healthy seeds

One of the major impediments while undertaking black tiger prawn farming is the lack of healthy, disease-free seeds. The Chairman said the facility is precursor for similar centres in other parts of the country. Black tiger shrimp is in demand as the best species for culture in the traditional farming systems of Kerala named Pokkali Padasehekarams in the fields after paddy is harvested.

It would also help the judicious exploitation of the vast marine, brackish and freshwater resources available in the country, especially in the western coastal states. Majority of the coastal waters in the west coast and the backwaters in Kerala and Goa are suitable for the cage culture of fishes, he said.

Above all the proximity of this facility to the Cochin International Airport is also advantageous for the transportation of seeds to other parts of the country, he added.

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