The countrywide strict lockdown has forced the supply chain system to come to a halt. Shrimp export has been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, preventing farmers from getting fair prices. Matters have been made worse as farmers were busy renovating and/or expanding their shrimp enclosures at the beginning of harvesting season this year, adding to their overhead cost which they cannot recuperate now.
Additionally, the countrywide strict lockdown has forced the supply chain system to come to a halt, freezing shrimp distribution across the country as well. This has led to the surge in shrimp prices in local markets, who are forced to sell Galda and Bagda variants of shrimp locally at Tk600-1,400 per kilo, depending on its size and quality, which were less than half its retail price before the second wave of the pandemic arrived. According to the Khulna Fisheries Inspection and Quality Control Office, 85% of the frozen shrimps exported from Bangladesh go to Europe, while the rest are exported to the United States.
However, the second wave of the pandemic has forced them to bar imports from other countries, bringing shrimp export to a standstill. Shrimp farmers and traders said that apart from rising enclosure prices, the price of baby prawns, or clutches, along with its feed, have also gone up, adding to processing, labour, and packaging costs. But the pandemic has caused shrimp prices to go down in the local market, due to lack of availability.
In Fayalhat of Rampal upazila of Bagerhat, traders used to sell crores worth of shrimp each day, but things have become quiet in recent times. The workers involved in the warehouse have been sitting idle due to the transport crisis caused by the coronavirus. According to the warehouse keeper and shrimp clutch counting workers, about 4,000 to 5,000 people, including traders and workers involved in the trade, have become unemployed due to the severe lockdown that began on April 14. On the other hand, if such a situation continues, the shrimp farmers will suffer if they are not able to meet the demand at the beginning of the season. Storekeeper of a shrimp farm Md Moniruzzaman said that Bagda and Galda clutches come to Khulna from Chittagong, Feni, Noakhali, and Cox’s Bazar. However, due to the pandemic, there is no supply of shrimp clutches life before, the farmers are not getting as per the demand. Due to this, 95% farmers will be affected.