The Bay of Bengal off Visakhapatnam is witnessing a bountiful harvest of premier shrimp varieties, but the fishing community faces a dilemma as buyers remain scarce. Andhra Pradesh’s largest fish landing facility at the fishing harbour in Visakhapatnam is bustling with activity, with around 600 mechanized boats venturing into the sea to reap the rewards of the abundant catch.
Despite the high-quality harvest, the fishing community is grappling with an unusual season marked by a surplus of brown prawns, Asian tiger shrimps, three-spot crabs, and some blue crabs. However, the market reflects a different reality, with only four out of 23 exporters actively buying the produce.
This limited demand has led to a drop in prices, with boat owners like Narasing Rao highlighting the predicament. Rao notes, “This year we have a good catch. We are especially getting the export quality ‘brown prawns’. But only four exporters are buying this now though we have 23 exporters here. Because of this situation, we are selling one kg brown prawns at Rs 370. Last year we sold this at Rs 450.”
The fishing community attributes the reduced demand to exporters favouring cultured shrimps over sea-harvested shrimps, despite a government rule stipulating that 25 percent of the export volume must comprise sea-harvested shrimps. Workers at export firms express concern that the state and central governments have not taken adequate measures to address this issue.
With each boat returning with substantial quantities of brown prawns, averaging between 600 kg to a tonne, the market is flooded, leading to a further decline in prices. The situation raises challenges for the Vizag harbour, which has a total of 700 mechanized boats, 600 of which are engaged in fishing activities.
