Why shrimp farmers are struggling in Sundarbans

Anath Bandhu Maity has been farming shrimp for the past six years and is building a palatial house with the income generated from the business.

The 48-year old has four ponds, covering 0.7 hectares in Sundarbans, an area famed for its mangroves, around 75 miles from Kolkata.

The region is prone to natural disasters that cause severe destruction every year, although shrimp farming can be lucrative.

“We mostly have brackish water here that is only fit for shrimp farming. Litopenaeus vannamei offers good profits as most of the produce is exported and we do farming cycles annually, each lasting for 90-100 days,” says Anath.

He claims to have generated Rs 18 lakh ($21,350) profits this year alone, and says that shrimp farming has completely changed his life.

But other farmers in Sundarbans have fared less well, due to the increasingly extreme weather conditions.

Gobinda Samanta left shrimp farming after losing Rs 2 crore ($235,000) after Cyclone Amphan washed away his entire stock in 2020.

“The tragedy couldn’t have happened at a worse time as the crop was ready for harvest and I was expecting good returns, but the river water entered the ponds and destroyed everything,” he explains.

“I had taken a loan of Rs 1 crore ($117,600) from the bank, which I am still repaying with interest. The losses broke my back completely and I quit farming,” he adds.

Other farmers complain of other challenges.

Bishu Pal, who farms 24 ponds over seven hectares, says: “The poor quality of seeds supplied mostly by private companies’ leads to the outbreak of diseases causing mortality. We cannot fight with nature – my 45,359 kg of production was lost during Cyclone Yaas in 2021 – but we can certainly improve the quality of seeds to help to lower mortalities.”

Dr Sanjoy Das, principal scientist at the Kakdwip Research Centre of ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, says: “The shrimp industries of various brackish water aquaculture areas of India, including Sundarbans, have been paralysed by the occurrence of various diseases, particularly white spot disease (WSD) and Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) infection. Furthermore, there are other diseases, including infectious hypodermal and haematopoietic necrosis (IHHN), loose shell syndrome (LSS), infectious myonecrosis (IMN), white faeces syndrome, and vibriosis.”

“The absence of awareness among farmers regarding the proper management of diseases is one of the primary factors contributing to their occurrence. The adequate training on disease management and the comprehensive understanding of different biosecurity protocols can prevent the occurrence of diseases in shrimp farms to a great extent,” he adds.

Senior government officials point out that low prices have also been discouraging shrimp farmers.

“Shrimp farming mainly relies on markets in the USA, China, European Union, Southeast Asia and Japan. But the exports have been affected, as USA has started importing from Ecuador which has been hitting Indian farmers,” says Satyajit Ghosh, a local fishery extension officer.

He adds that Indian farmers are often forced to sell their shrimp at a price below the production cost to pay off their debts and this has resulted in many leaving the shrimp business.

The hazards of trade tarrifs

The exports are also suffering from import duties imposed by the US, with India’s national seafood exports hitting $ 7.37 billion in 2023-24, down by 8.74 per cent compared to the previous period.

“The USA has imposed anti-dumping or countervailing duty (CVD) on imports of the shrimp from Ecuador, India and Vietnam. The CVD on Indian imports is 5.7 per cent followed by Ecuador (3.75 per cent), Vietnam and Indonesia (2.84 per cent) respectively. USA prefers Ecuador because of its geographical proximity. The imposition of CVD will have a negative impact on the export prices of Indian shrimp in the US market,” notes Rajarshi Banerji, president and the Seafood Exporters Association of India (West Bengal region).
“The new duties will require importers to make extra cash deposits on their shrimp imports, which will lead to additional costs for Indian exporters. It will place India at a disadvantage”.

Gobinda, however, is gearing up to return to shrimp farming with a hope to be lucky this time in order to pay his pending debts.