At the production cost of USD 1.56/lb and at the prevailing farm gate price of USD 2.42/lb based on the current going rate in its immediate neighbor, India, Bangladeshi shrimp farmers will have a minimum margin of profit of USD 0.86/lb or USD 18,920/hectare per grow-out cycle in under 100 DOC when extrapolated from volume production based on the pioneering pilot project performance.

That's a lot of money for a country with a minimum wage of USD 86.62/month, whereas the minimum monthly wage in the Philippines is USD 259.25/month based on the cost of living.

That is why the Ministry of Fisheries and Animal Resources of the Government of Bangladesh is carefully studying what is best for the Bangladeshi shrimp farming industry before finally issuing commercial approval for intensive vannamei aquaculture production in the country.

One thing is for sure, if Bangladesh can farm black tiger prawns and giant river prawns, it can farm the pacific white shrimp quite easily and it can compete in the export market after all the basic infrastructures and logistical amenities have been set in place ... because post-harvest quality matters in the international arena like freshness, smell, appearance, size uniformity, presentation, sanitary condition, microbial biota (both qualitative and quantitative), and absence of unwanted foreign materials and banned chemical residues.

In this case, extra-label antibiotic usage must be stopped in Bangladesh.

And I anticipate, that there will be a gradual surge of government-run and/or government-accredited vannamei shrimp hatcheries, commercial shrimp feed input, feeding tray input, and paddlewheel input in the Bangladesh shrimp farming industry in the coming future.

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For a country that chose to adapt to change ... for the economic welfare of its shrimp farmers.

Because no one can stop change.

BANGLADESH: Vannamei Pilot Project (Update: August 2022)