Aquac Res 2012, 43, 970983
REVIEW ARTICLE
Current status and prospects of farming the giant
river prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man)
in Bangladesh
Md Abdul Wahab1, Sk Ahmad-Al-Nahid1, Nesar Ahmed1, Mohammad M Haque2
& Mahmudul Karim3
1
Department of Fisheries Management, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh
2
Department of Aquaculture, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh
3
Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Correspondence: M A Wahab, Department of Fisheries Management, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh 2202,
Bangladesh. E-mail: wahabma_bau@yahoo.com
Abstract
Giant river prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii)
farming plays an important role in the economy of
Bangladesh. Presently, it is cultured in around
50 000 ha area with total annual production of
23 240 t. Traditional extensive prawn farming
has been expanding over the last three decades
through the introduction and adoption of
improved culture systems, such as culture of
prawn-carps, prawn-shrimp-fish and prawn-fish-
rice as concurrent and rotational systems. Efforts
for the development of improved techniques on
broodstock management, seed production and
rearing and grow-out of prawn have been made
over the last decade. The outcomes are low-cost
feed for broodstock, production of post-larvae in
net cages (hapa), all-male prawn culture, periphy-
ton based prawn-tilapia culture, C/N based prawn
culture, organic prawn farming, prawn-mola cul-
ture and prawn-carp-mola polyculture. Despite the
development of culture technologies, a number of
challenges for sustainable development of prawn
farming need to be overcome to realize the poten-
tials of this promising sector. Good aquaculture
practises at all levels and application of measures
for quality control and food safety would ensure
sustainable development of prawn farming in Ban-
gladesh.
Keywords: giant river prawn, culture, develop-
ment, prospects, Bangladesh
970
doi:10.1111/j.1365-2109.2012.03137.
Introduction
Bangladesh is blessed with giant river prawn (Mac-
robrachium rosenbergii, locally known as golda)
farming because of its favourable resources,
including vast inland freshwater and adjacent
brackishwater areas, geographic location and
agro-climatic conditions. Geographically Bangla-
desh enjoys a series of natural advantages for
prawn culture. Its soil, water, climate and local
cultural tradition are congenial for giant river
prawn (also known as freshwater prawn) produc-
tion. Giant river prawn is an indigenous species in
Bangladesh. Twenty four species of freshwater
prawns including ten species of Macrobrachium are
found in Bangladesh (Akand & Hasan 1992;
Ahmed, Demaine & Muir 2008a), of which only
M. rosenbergii is commercially cultured. M. rosen-
bergii is naturally available in coastal areas and
adjacent rivers [Bangladesh is often called a land
of rivers as a network of around 700 rivers and
tributaries totaling 24 140 km crisscross the
country] in southwest and southeast Bangladesh.
It is also widely distributed in the riverine systems
in Satkhira, Jessore, Khulna, Bagerhat, Patuakhali,
Barisal, Faridpur, Narail, Sylhet and other districts
and estuaries in the Sundarbans mangrove forests
(Hoq 2008; Paul 2008).
Fish and fisheries products comprise the second
largest export earning sector in Bangladesh with a
contribution of 4.04% to the total export earnings
and 3.74% to gross domestic product (GDP) in
2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Aquaculture Research, 2012, 43, 970983
20072008 fiscal year. Prawn and shrimp [The
term prawn is used for freshwater species and
shrimp for marine and brackishwater organisms]
as a whole contribute 90% of total export earnings
from fisheries products, of which prawn alone con-
tributes 30% (DoF 2009). The prawn and shrimp
sector have gradually grown over the last three
decades and provided direct and indirect employ-
ment opportunity for around 1.5 million people. It
is recognized that prawn farming is an important
aquaculture activity in Bangladesh and plays sig-
nificant role in poverty alleviation, employment
generation, foreign currency earning and improve-
ment of socioeconomic conditions of farmers and
associated groups (Ahmed et al. 2008a).
Prawn farming in Bangladesh is becoming pop-
ular and lucrative because of its growing impor-
tance as an export item with high price. Prawn
farming has enhanced the potentials of utilization
of low lying fallow lands, floodplains and other
water bodies. Prawn farming with other crops,
potentially provides good opportunity for diversi-
fied production, including fish and rice (Ahmed,
Brown & Muir 2008b). Despite the growth of
prawn farming in Bangladesh, a number of chal-
lenges including production technologies, socioeco-
nomic and environmental impacts and some other
factors, such as marketing, processing and export-
ing are important for its sustainability (Ahmed
et al. 2008a). Moreover, inadequate technical
capacity, lack of trained people to understand the
international compliance, poor implementation
and monitoring capacity, inadequate access to
information and lack of awareness on the food
safety and quality issues have been major con-
straints in the development of this sector.
This study provides an overview of current sta-
tus, development trends, challenges and prospects
of giant river prawn farming in Bangladesh. The
aim of this study is to address current issues that
determine sustainable prawn culture development
in Bangladesh. It is assumed that the development
of prawn farming would bring about economic
benefits to the country.
Status and development trends
Giant river prawn farming first started in the
southwest region in the early 1970s (Mazid
1994a) at Fakirhat sub-district in Bagerhat district
(Abedin, Islam, Chandra & Kabir 2001). Farmers
used to catch prawn post-larvae (PL) from the
2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Aquaculture Research, 43, 970983
Status and prospects of giant river prawn farming M A Wahab et al.
Ichamati River, on the border between Bangladesh
and India adjacent to the Sunderbans mangrove
forests, at Debhata in the Satkhhira district for
stocking in rice fields, locally known as gher [The
prawn farming system in modified low lying areas
of the floodplain and rice fields in southwest
Bangladesh is locally referred to as gher] (BOBP
1990; New 1995). Around 1978, some local
farmers in the Fakirhat area of Bagerhat district
began stocking prawn PL in fish ponds on experi-
mental basis (Kendrick 1994). Some enterprising
farmers developed prawn farming technology in
the low lying rice fields during mid 1970s1980s
(Rutherford 1994). In the late 1980s, prawn farm-
ing practise began to be adopted widely in the
Fakirhat area, where prawns were grown along
with fish including Indian major carps (rohu, catla
and mrigal) and exotic carps (silver carp, common
carp) with rice (Kamp & Brand 1994).
At the beginning of prawn farming, it was very
profitable because farmers used to stock easily
available cheap wild PL and were not using any
supplementary feed. Farmers in Bagerhat district
adopted prawn culture knowing the success stories
of the Fakirhat areas (Rutherford 1994). By 1990,
prawn farming had been extended to other south-
west districts, such as Khulna, Satkhira and Jes-
sore, owing to the development of export markets
with high demand (Abedin et al. 2001). Since
then it has become one of the most attractive
investment opportunities in these areas (Ahmed
2001).
Apart from a growing interest for freshwater
prawn farming among farmers, the onset of White
Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) disease in marine
shrimp (Penaeus monodon, locally known as bagda)
farms during 19941995 had been one of the
major reasons for a dramatic increase in the num-
ber of prawn farms after 2000. Thus, farmers
inclined their attention towards culture of freshwa-
ter prawn along with carps in rice fields. However,
prawn farming was not affected by WSSV (Karim
2000).
Development of prawn farming
Prawn farming has further developed and pro-
gressed in both gher and pond systems in coastal
areas of southwestern (Bagerhat, Khulna, Satkh-
ira, Perojpur, Jessore, Narail, Gopalganj and
Madaripur) and southeastern (Noakhali, Comilla,
Patuakhali, Barisal, Bhola, Chittagong and Coxs
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Status and prospects of giant river prawn farming M A Wahab et al. Aquaculture Research, 2012, 43, 970983

W E

Comilla

Madaripur
Jesssore Narai Gopalga
Barisal

Noakhali
Satkhira Perojpur Ctg
Bagerhat
Khulna Bhola
Patuakhali

Coxs Bazar

Figure 1 The bullet points () show

prawn farming areas in the south-
west and southeast regions in Ban-
gladesh.

Bazar) districts (Fig. 1). While prawn farming

practise is still traditional in nature in Bangladesh,
majority of farmers follow improved extensive
methods that include activities like preparation of
prawn farms, stocking of PL, fertilization, applica-
tion of feed, use of medicine as preventive and
curative measures against disease outbreaks and
harvesting of crops after completion of grow-out
periods. About 71% of farmers are involved in gher
systems in the southwest region and the remain-
der in pond systems in other regions (Ahmed et al.
2008a). However, the progress of prawn farming
is slow in the northern and north-central regions
because of inadequate extension services, lack of
technical knowledge of farmers on prawn farming
and poor supply of PL (Ahmed 2011).
More than 70% of prawn farms are located in
the southwestern part of the country. The total
area of prawn and shrimp farms which was only
3500 ha in the mid 1980s (Muir 2003) has now
increased to about 217 877 ha, of which prawn
Figure 2 Trends in prawn farming areas over last two
decades, showing a dramatic increase since 2000
(Source: Karim 1997; Khondoker 2008; DoF 2009).
culture area alone consisted of 50 000 ha (Islam
2009a; DoF 2010). Prawn farming has been
expanding rapidly in recent years with an average
of 15% growth per annum (Khondoker 2007a).
Figure 2 shows the increase in prawn farming
areas in Bangladesh over the last two decades.
There are 94 351 prawn farms with an average
farm size of 0.58 ha (Nuruzzaman 2010). Never-
theless, the average size of prawn farms in major
producing areas is estimated as 0.20 ha.

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Aquaculture Research, 2012, 43, 970983 Status and prospects of giant river prawn farming M A Wahab et al.

Prawn productivity Prawn export

The annual yield of prawns in Bangladesh ranged Majority of Bangladeshi prawns produced are
from 375 to 500 kg ha 1 in integrated prawn-rice exported to the international market. However,
culture systems and 450500 kg ha 1 in prawn the prawn marketing system is complex and quite
culture in fallow rice field systems (Khondoker long which is entirely managed, financed and con-
2008). However, in the past the average annual trolled by a group of intermediaries (Ahmed, Lec-
yield of prawn was 432 kg ha 1 in Bagerhat (Ah- ouffe, Allison & Muir 2009). The major groups of
med 2001) and 175200 kg ha 1 in Noakhali intermediaries are prawn traders, middlemen
(Lecouffe 2005). In 20082009, Bangladesh pro- (faria), agents, depot owners, processors and
duced 26 138 t of prawns from different water exporters (Fig. 4).
bodies, while 90% of this production (23 597 t) Bangladesh has now become one of the seven
was by aquaculture from southwestern region major exporting countries along with China, Ecua-
(DoF 2010; Rahman 2010) and the rest by cap- dor, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam
ture mainly from inland and coastal rivers, beels (Wahab 2009). In 20082009, Bangladesh
(wetlands) and floodplains (Table 1). exported about 50 368 t of frozen prawn and
Farmed prawn production in Bangladesh has shrimp products, and earned about US$392 mil-
been increasing notably over the last decade lion, of which freshwater prawn was 8690 t, with
(Fig. 3). The average annual growth of farmed a value of about US$97.79 million (Fig. 5). The
prawn production over the last decade was 15%. amount of exported prawn product was lower in
However, the growth of total production slowed 20082009 than that of the previous fiscal year
down since 2007 due to the fact that the sector because of a self-imposed ban on exporting prawn
has been facing many challenges, including eco- to the European Union (EU) by Bangladeshi
nomic recession of global markets. exporters from May to November 2009 owing to
the alleged presence of nitrofuran in their products
(Islam, Khan & Reza 2009).
In general, about 70% of the total production is
Table 1 Freshwater prawn production from different exported to foreign markets and the rest (30%) is
water bodies in 20082009 consumed locally (Paul 2008). It was reported
that about 48% of the total exported prawn and
Production Water Production % of total shrimp went to Europe (Belgium 24%, UK 9%,
system body (t) production Netherlands 7%, Germany 4% and other EU coun-
Culture Pond 5108.00 19.54 tries 4%), 34% to the USA, 3% to Japan and 15%
Gher 18 488.76 70.74 to other countries (Karim & Kabir 2008; Mostafa
Total culture 23 596.76 90.28 2009). Although the Japanese market for Ban-
Capture River 2478.00 9.48 gladeshi prawn has declined recently, new markets
Beel 63.00 0.24
have emerged in other Asian countries, such as
Floodplain 0.19 negligible
Total capture 2541.19 9.72 Hong Kong, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore and Thai-
Grand total 26 137.95 100.00 land (USAID 2006).
(culture + capture)

Source: adapted from DoF (2010). Prawn farming technologies

Most of the prawn farming technologies currently

Figure 3 Farmed prawn production in different years
(Source: adapted from DoF 2010).
practised in Bangladesh are farmers own innova-
tion. With the expansion of prawn farming, differ-
ent culture techniques have emerged; these are:
prawn polyculture with fish, prawn-shrimp-fish
mixed culture, concurrent prawn culture with boro
[Boro rice is grown, transplanted and matured in
dry monsoon, frequently irrigated and harvested
before wet season] and aman [Aman rice is grown
in wet monsoon, mostly rain-fed and harvested in

2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Aquaculture Research, 43, 970983 973

Status and prospects of giant river prawn farming M A Wahab et al.
Prawn brood collectors from nature
Direct
sale
Wild PL collectors
Fry traders
Nursery
Farmers
In certain cases
After grading small size
After grading small size
In country wholesale markets
Retail markets
Local consumers
Figure 5 Export value of prawn (US$) over the last
decade (20012009) (Source: adapted from DoF
2010).
NovemberDecember] rice or alternate culture of
rice and prawn (after harvest of rice) and prawn-
fish-dike cropping integration. Prawn monoculture
is rarely practised now-a-days. Most farmers prefer
prawn and fish polyculture with rice, combined
with vegetables grown on dikes; a sustainable sys-
tem which is eco-friendly and profitable. Currently
prawn culture in rice fields, both concurrent and
alternate farming, covers 70% of total prawn
farming areas (Khondoker 2008). An ongoing pro-
ject named Sustaining Ethical Aquaculture Trade
(SEAT) has recently identified stocking density and
production of different prawn farming technologies
practised in Bangladesh (Table 2).
974
Aquaculture Research, 2012, 43, 970983
Hatchery
Local traders
Direct sale
Local depots
Central depots
Commission agents
Processors
Exporters
International buyers
International markets Figure 4 Value chain mapping of
the prawn sector in Bangladesh
(Source: adapted from Wahab
International consumers
et al. 2011).
In pond systems, farmers usually stock hatch-
ery-produced PL during AprilMay with different
carp species. Only a few affluent farmers provide
supplementary feed. Prawn harvest usually starts
after 68 months of stocking and the harvesting
continues from OctoberDecember, but in peren-
nial ponds it may continue up to MayJune of the
following year. The size of prawn at harvest
ranges from 20150 g in pond systems.
In gher systems, prawn PL are stocked in April
June and harvested primarily from November to
January, a culture period of around 89 months.
Rice is generally cultivated in the central plateaus
of the gher during the dry season from February
until May. In recent years, some farmers culture
prawns and shrimps together in the gher where
saline water is available for 23 months (Wahab,
Nahid & Haque 2011). Farmers usually culture
shrimp along with freshwater prawn for a period
of 3 months in gher when water becomes slightly
saline before the rainy season. In recent years,
vegetable cultivation on dikes has become popular
because of the low risk involved in this practise,
ensuring full utilization of lands with a little addi-
tional capital investment (Ahmed et al. 2008b).
2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Aquaculture Research, 43, 970983
Aquaculture Research, 2012, 43, 970983 Status and prospects of giant river prawn farming M A Wahab et al.

Table 2 Various prawn farming technologies in Bangladesh

Stocking density Production

Culture species (40 m 2) (kg 40 m 2)

System Culture technology P S F R P S F P S F

Pond (modified Prawn-fish (over-wintered juvenile prawn) 80 10 4.5 11

fallow rice field) Prawn-fish (current year juvenile prawn) 60 10 2.5 11
Prawn-boro rice (alternative) 60 10 2.5 11
Prawn-boro rice (concurrent) 40 1.2
Prawn-aman rice (concurrent) 25 18 0.7 5
Gher Prawn-fish- rice 200 4 3.5 6
Prawn-shrimp-fish 100 100 4 2 1 5
Prawn-shrimp-fish-rice 100 60 2 2 0.5 4

Source: SEAT research findings.

P, prawn; S, shrimp; F, fish; R, rice.

About a decade ago, the average annual stock-
ing density of PL in gher systems were 20 680
ha 1 (Ahmed 2001), ranging from 10 000 to 30
000 ha 1 (Muir 2003). However, currently most
farmers stock around 50 000 ha 1 of PL with
1000 ha 1 of fish fingerlings in prawn-fish mixed
culture systems (Wahab et al. 2011). In prawn-
shrimp-fish culture systems, farmers usually stock
25 000 ha 1 of prawn PL with 25 000 ha 1 of
shrimp PL and 1000 ha 1 of fish fingerlings (Wa-
hab et al. 2011). Usually the survival rates for
prawn and shrimp range from 50 to 60%.
Supplementary feeds are used by most farmers
in the gher systems for feeding prawns. At the
early stage of prawn farming, farmers apply nurs-
ery feed, and also a mixture of rice bran, wheat
bran and coarse flour. Although the preferred feed
for grow-out of prawn is the freshwater apple snail
(Pila globosa) meat (Ahmed et al. 2008a,b), farmers
also use home-made feed like cooked rice, fried
rice, rice bran, boiled wheat, wheat bran, maize,
boiled papaya and roots of arum, chick peas and
fish meal. Farmers also often use commercial pel-
leted feed for better prawn growth.
In the past, farmers used fertilizer at the rate of
an average 1500 kg ha 1 of cow dung, 400 kg
ha 1 of urea and 200 kg ha 1 of triple super
phosphate (TSP) at varying frequencies (Ahmed
2001). Currently most farmers do not use cow
dung and poultry litter in gher owing to fear of
disease outbreaks, but use inorganic fertilizers
(urea and TSP) alone or in combination with oil
cakes during farm preparation. Farmers also use
lime, bleaching agent, zeolite, oxygen enhancer
and vitamins as medicine for prevention and con-
trol of diseases. The size of prawn at harvest
ranges from 30 to 200 g in gher systems (Wahab
et al. 2011).
Advances in prawn farming
technologies
During 19791988, the Department of Fisheries
(DoF) initiated prawn aquaculture development in
Bangladesh with the help of Asian Development
Bank, and set up a prawn hatchery at Coxs Bazar
(Khondoker 2009). Since then hatchery PL were
commercially available at both government and
private hatcheries (Paul 2008). In 1994, prawn
seed production in backyard hatchery was intro-
duced by the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Insti-
tute (BFRI) (Pramanik 1995). Since then BFRI
developed improved technologies for prawn PL
nursing which were disseminated among farmers
and private hatchery owners (Ali & Mazid 2005),
followed by the establishment of some nurseries in
prawn farming districts by DoF for providing
improved nursing technologies (Khondoker
2007b). Later, the Winrock International helped
to develop five broodbanks in the Khulna region
for successful operation of prawn hatcheries (DoF
2009).
Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) led a
decade long applied research on freshwater prawn
farming since 2000. A number of viable produc-
tion technologies have been developed, of which
prawn-tilapia mixed culture in periphyton system
(Uddin 2007), prawn-carp-mola (Amblypharyng-
odon mola, nutrient dense small indigenous species)
polyculture in rice fields (Kunda 2008), prawn-tila-
pia mixed culture in C/N ratio controlled periphy-
ton (C/N-CP) system (Benerjee 2009), C/N based

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Status and prospects of giant river prawn farming M A Wahab et al.
Table 3 Prawn farming technologies developed at BAU Fisheries Field Laboratory
Culture species Stocking density (ha 1)
Farming
technology P T C M R P
Prawn-tilapia in 7500
periphyton system
Prawn-fish-rice 15 000
(concurrent)
Prawn-fish-rice 20 000
(alternate)
All-male prawn-fish 20 000
C/N based prawn 20 000
culture
Prawn-tilapia in 20 000
C/N-CP system
Source: BAU research findings.
P, prawn; T, tilapia; C, carp; M, mola; R, rice; C/N, carbon-nitrogen; C/N-CP, carbon-nitrogen ratio controlled periphyton.
prawn farming system through addition of tilapia
and substrate (Asaduzzaman, Wahab, Verdegem,
Benerjee, Akter, Hasan & Azim 2009), PL nursing
in net cages or hapas (Wahab 2009), all-male
prawn polyculture (Rahman & Wahab 2010),
selective harvesting in all-male culture (Rahman
2010) and polyculture of all-male prawn with
carps (Rahman 2010). All of these improved farm-
ing technologies were mostly carried out on-station
at BAU Fisheries Field Laboratory (Table 3). How-
ever, only few of these culture technologies have
been tried at the on-farm conditions.
The technology of tilapia and freshwater prawn
polyculture in periphyton based systems was
developed for poverty alleviation and nutritional
security for the households of poor farmers (Uddin
2007), where the suggested stocking ratio of tila-
pia and prawn was 3:1 and combined stocking
density was 30 000 ha 1.
Another low-cost rice-prawn-fish culture tech-
nology of both concurrent and rotational method
was developed to provide economic returns and
nutritional security for the rural farmers (Kunda
2008), where the productivity in rotational system
was found to be 730 kg ha 1 of prawn, 1244 kg
ha 1 of catla and 168 kg ha 1 of mola.
All-male prawn and fish polyculture technology
is a recent development which may ensure sus-
tainable production with higher profit (Rahman
2010). Another important technology of prawn-
tilapia mixed culture is carbon-nitrogen ratio con-
trolled periphyton (C/N-CP) system (Asaduzzaman
et al. 2009; Benerjee 2009).
Research on post harvest quality control and
product development took place at BAU as well.
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Aquaculture Research, 2012, 43, 970983
Production (kg ha 1)
T C M P T C M
22 500 163 2209
20 000 388 68
2500 20 000 730 1244 168
2500 20 000 640 967 148
540
5000 450 1140
These are effects of antibiotic residues (nitrofuran)
on freshwater prawn (Kamal et al. 2009) and
development of protein enriched crackers and
loaves from shrimp and prawn shells (Ali, Khan,
Rahman & Alam 2010; Khan, Rahman, Ali &
Alam 2010).
The BFRI has conducted some research on
shrimp-prawn mixed culture (Mazid 1994b) and
developed some technologies (Alam, Pramanik &
Mannan 2000; Mazid, Zaher & Nahar 2000; Alam,
Islam & Rahman 2005; Hussain, Khair & Ali
2005; Saha et al. 2007; Ali 2008; Alam 2010).
DoF has also demonstrated prawn brood devel-
opment through green house system (DoF 2009).
Katalyst introduced intensive high stocking
prawn farming in the Khulna region and obtained
higher production of over 2000 kg ha 1 (Katalyst
2009). However, large scale adoption of this tech-
nology has not yet taken place.
Prawn productivity could be substantially
increased by effective dissemination of many of
these technologies. A number of institutional factors
have been identified that would assist in adopting
these technologies, including extension services,
training programmes and technical support.
Although DoF is responsible for providing extension
services and training programmes, an increasing
number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
may also be involved in these activities.
Challenges facing Bangladesh prawn
industry
While the prawn industry in Bangladesh is stea-
dily growing, there are a number of challenges for
2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Aquaculture Research, 43, 970983
Aquaculture Research, 2012, 43, 970983
its sustainable development. Major challenges
include dependence on wild PL, lack of quality
broodstock, poor quality feeds, use of meat and
bone meal (MBM) as feed, prawn diseases, use of
chemicals and drugs, lower production rate, inade-
quate technical knowledge of the farmers, igno-
rance on ethical aquaculture practises, lack of
information sharing and coordination, insufficient
credit facilities, marketing constraints, rejection of
prawn consignments and vulnerability climate
changes (Ahmed et al. 2008a; Ahmed & Garnett
2010). The following sections describe key chal-
lenges for prawn farming in Bangladesh.
Lack of quality seed
Non-availability of good quality PL is one of the
most serious problems faced by the prawn farmers
of Bangladesh, and given the current scenario this
problem is likely to continue. Most of the prawn
farming in Bangladesh presently depends on PL
from wild sources. Although there are 70 prawn
hatcheries (17 government and 53 private) opera-
tional in Bangladesh producing about 108 million
PL, they contribute only 15% of the total demand
(DoF 2010). The rest of the PL sources are natu-
ral, including coastal rivers and estuaries.
Although the Government of Bangladesh has
developed Fish and Shrimp Hatchery Law 2010
for maintaining quality of hatchery PL, farmers do
not prefer hatchery PL because of poor quality and
low survival rate. It was reported that hatchery PL
shows better performance for first 2 months after
stocking, then mass mortality occurs suddenly.
This problem may be due to the use of low quality
broodstock in prawn hatcheries. Availability of
quality broodstock is very important for producing
quality PL. Projected demand for broodstock in 70
prawn hatcheries is about 126 000 per year
(Islam & Shah 2009). Although most hatcheries
are dependent on natural broodstock, the supply is
limited. Moreover, the capture of wild broodstock
has negative impacts on the abundance of prawn
population, which has already been depleted
because of indiscriminate fishing of PL and broods
from the wild.
Poor quality feed
According to Bangladesh Quality Support Program
(BQSP 2009), 70% of prawn and shrimp feeds
used in the country are of poor quality in terms of
2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Aquaculture Research, 43, 970983
Status and prospects of giant river prawn farming M A Wahab et al.
protein content and feed ingredients. It was also
reported that nitrofurans, metabolites and chl-
oramphenicol were detected in samples of prawn
feeds tested. This problem is also associated with
using poor quality fish feed, poultry feed, snail
shell and other feed ingredients like oil cake and
MBM in prawn farms. In addition to quality issue,
the price of prawn feed has increased significantly
as prawn farming has become widespread in
southwest and southeast Bangladesh. Farmers
often use poultry feed in prawn farming to make
higher profit because the price of poultry feed (US
$0.3 kg 1) is much lower than that of prawn feed
(US$0.4 kg 1). Although most feed ingredients are
locally available, fish meal and MBM are imported
from other countries, including China and EU.
However, there are questions about the quality
and ethics of using imported MBM in prawn feeds.
To maintain feed quality for aquaculture, the Gov-
ernment of Bangladesh has enacted the Fisheries
and Livestock Feed Regulation Ordinance 2007
(DoF 2008) and Fish and Animal Feed Law 2009
(DoF 2009), which need to be implemented at the
field level.
Lower production
In 20082009, prawn production was 26 138 t
which was low considering the potential of land
and water resources available in Bangladesh. The
annual yield ranges from 400 to 500 kg ha 1
(DoF 2010), which is also lower than other prawn
producing countries, such as China, India, Tai-
wan, Thailand and Vietnam (Weimin & Xianping
2002; Raizada, Chadha, Javed, Ali, Singh, Kumar
& Kumar 2005; Vicki 2007). It is reported that
the present level of annual prawn production can
be increased to 15002500 kg ha 1 through the
application of advanced technologies (Katalyst
2009). In addition, good aquaculture practises
may increase prawn production and withstand dis-
eases. There are some common diseases recorded
in the prawn farms, such as broken antennae, soft
body and shell, stiff shell, gas bubble disease, fun-
gal infection and tail rot (Wahab et al. 2011). The
incidence of disease outbreaks in prawn culture is
still insignificant in Bangladesh.
Food safety and quality control
Post harvest management for food safety and qual-
ity control are priority issues for the export of
977
Status and prospects of giant river prawn farming M A Wahab et al.
prawn to international market. Currently prawn
export to EU countries face a number of chal-
lenges, including presence of banned antibiotics.
Although most of the processing plants follow Haz-
ard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) princi-
ple as per EU rules, banned antibiotics are often
found in prawn consignments. The EU, USA and
other aquatic food importing countries are setting
up new standards to protect contamination from
pathogenic microbial organisms (e.g. salmonella),
antibiotics (nitrofurans, chloramphenicol), hazard-
ous chemicals, heavy metals (e.g. lead), pesticides
and hormones - all of these are considered harmful
to human health (Karim & Kabir 2008). To ensure
food safety, consumers demand that prawn must
be produced, handled and stored strictly complying
with hygienic and sanitation rules at all levels.
Besides, prawn must be cultured and processed in
an environment-friendly and socially responsible
manner, in compliance with labour rules (Karim &
Kabir 2008).
Prawn marketing and export
Marketing of prawns are not well developed in
remote prawn farming areas in Bangladesh. Farm-
ers do not have ready access to sources of ice and
proper transport facilities. In recent years, the
market price of prawns fluctuate vigorously
because of global economic crisis, and a self-
imposed ban on prawn export by seafood exporters
in Bangladesh, resulting in loss of farmers income
by about US$12 kg 1 of prawn. As such, many
farmers have shifted to fish culture in their exist-
ing systems. A large number of people are engaged
in prawn marketing, but they often exploit poor
producers by controlling price. It is therefore
imperative that government should formulate
appropriate legislation to monitor and ensure the
profit of farmers through fair trade (Ahmed et al.
2009). A good reputation for quality products (free
of banned antibiotics) will need to be established
and maintained from an international market per-
spective. Efficient post harvest handling, processing
and marketing are particularly essential for prawn
export to international markets.
Impacts of climate change
Bangladesh has been severely affected by global
climate change as the country is ranked first in
terms of vulnerability to climate variability in the
978
Aquaculture Research, 2012, 43, 970983
world. These changes have resulted in frequent
and severe tropical cyclones (e.g. SIDR, Aila, Rashmi),
floods, inundation of low lying rice fields, irregular
rain fall, seasonality changes, sea level rise, droughts,
siltation and saline water intrusion (Islam 2009b).
In recent years, tropical cyclones have severely
affected prawn farming in coastal Bangladesh.
There is no doubt that climate change has already
created a strong demand for adaptation with
appropriate technologies so that prawn farmers
can cope up with climate change.
Lack of coordination among stakeholders
Many donor-funded projects work in different
prawn farming areas of Bangladesh often in asso-
ciation with key stakeholders, including extension
workers, researchers and policymakers. However,
there is virtually very little coordination among
different stakeholders of the prawn industry. All
stakeholders should be aware of national and
international regulations (e.g. World Trade Orga-
nization) and procedure for application for interna-
tional assistance related to the prawn sector.
International regulations often change and the
stakeholders need to be regularly updated of these
changes. Collaboration at all levels needs to be
developed among different stakeholders including
hatchery operators, fry traders, farmers, input sup-
pliers, buyers, transporters, processors and export-
ers. In addition, better coordination and sharing of
information among various institutions including
DoF, BFRI, donor agencies (the WorldFish Center,
Katalyst, Winrock International), export promotion
bureau, NGOs and banks are essential for the sus-
tainable development of prawn farming sector in
Bangladesh.
Future prospects
There are many positive attributes for successful
prawn farming in Bangladesh. Both soil and water
in most regions of Bangladesh are of good quality
and suitable for prawn culture facilitating produc-
tion of large sized prawns with special texture and
taste. Water pH mostly ranges from 7 to 8 in
ponds and the water temperature often remains
2832C during most times of the year, which are
ideal for prawn culture. The production systems of
prawn in Bangladesh could be considered as
nearly organic (Asaduzzaman 2005). Prawn farm-
ing does not essentially need to employ mangrove
2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Aquaculture Research, 43, 970983
Aquaculture Research, 2012, 43, 970983
forests and it is environment-friendly compared
with marine shrimp farming.
Integrated prawn farming with fish, rice and
vegetables is becoming popular in Bangladesh, as
this farming system represents a sustainable
means of providing food and income. Prawn farm-
ing in Bangladesh has the advantage over many
other prawn producing countries as it is cultured
in rice fields. The nutrient accumulation by prawn
culture is removed through rice farming (Nguyen
& Ford 2010), which improves the environment.
In Bangladesh, the total area of floodplain is about
2.83 million ha where water stands for 4
6 months, and mostly used for seasonal rice pro-
duction (DoF 2009). In most cases, boro rice is
grown in floodplain from January to May and
remains unused for the rest of the year, especially
in the monsoon season (Rahman 2010). These fal-
low rice fields may provide a great opportunity to
culture prawn and fish with aman rice.
The demand for prawn in the domestic market
is increasing day by day. It is expected that with
increase in economic condition of the people in
Bangladesh, local consumption will increase.
Besides, there is growing demand for Bangladeshi
prawns in the international market. Increased
demand for export markets is promising for the
prawn industry in Bangladesh. Although China is
the largest producer, most of the farmed prawns
are consumed domestically. For this reason, Ban-
gladesh and India, as well as Thailand and Viet-
nam, may be better placed than China in
developing their export trade of farmed prawn
(New et al. 2009). Some of the major prawn
exporting countries recently focus more on the
culture of other species like Litopenaeus vannamei
(China, India, Thailand) and Macrobrachium nip-
ponense (China), which will increase the opportuni-
ties for Bangladeshi prawn in the export market
(Paul 2008; New et al. 2009).
With the increase in prawn production, process-
ing and exporting facilities have to be improved in
Bangladesh. Currently there are 133 fish process-
ing plants (licenced 75, EU approved 68) of which
most are situated in Khulna (85) and Chittagong
(40). However, only 20% of their total capacity is
in use (Mostafa 2009). Infrastructure facilities are
very important for efficient marketing of prawns
with maintaining quality from farm to plate. These
include transportation (road, airport and seaport),
ice factories, depots, auction markets or arat, [Auc-
tion market, where farmers come to sell their
2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Aquaculture Research, 43, 970983
Status and prospects of giant river prawn farming M A Wahab et al.
produce and can bargain for price, locally known
as arat] and processing plants. In recent years,
auction markets and depots have been developed
locally to maintain good quality of prawn as well
as to facilitate marketing of the harvested produce
within short time. To maintain buyers require-
ment and to follow sanitation aspects, improve-
ment in infrastructure like mosaic floor and wall,
good water supply facilities, use of insect protected
net and ice crushing facilities have taken place.
Ice factories have also been developed locally to
supply ice to depots and markets.
It is a good sign that DoF has already taken ini-
tiative to register prawn farms, depots, ice factories
and processing plants through United Nations
Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) pro-
ject. As a part of this programme, already
154 872 prawn and shrimp farms, and 1169
depots have been registered (Ahmed 2010). Efforts
have been made to cover all farms under this reg-
istration programme. In addition, the DoF has
undertaken an experimental programme on e-
extension service for need based aquaculture with
the financial assistance of United Nations Develop-
ment Program (UNDP) to give need based technol-
ogy support to farmers of 10 districts (DoF 2009).
Moreover, the Government of Bangladesh has
taken a project on BQSP-Fisheries to improve the
quality standards and ensure food safety through
introducing better management at all levels of pro-
duction and processing of prawn as well as
strengthening inspection capacity of DoF (Hasan
2009). The Government of Bangladesh has
declared prawn farming as a primary and promis-
ing industry and designed specific support pro-
grammes to boost its production. As per the road
map for fisheries sector development, Bangladesh
plans to produce 60 000 t of prawns from
80 000 ha of farms by 2015 (Karim 2011).
Conclusion
Giant river prawn farming in Bangladesh plays an
important role in the economy of the country
through export earnings, providing livelihood
opportunities, improving social status and supply-
ing food. Prawn farming has become popular
among farmers for its social, economic and envi-
ronmental benefits. Because of favourable resources,
suitable agro-climatic conditions and growing
demand in the international market, prawn farm-
ing in Bangladesh would further flourish. Despite
979
Status and prospects of giant river prawn farming M A Wahab et al.
the great potential of freshwater prawn culture in
this country, successful commercial farming is fac-
ing a number of challenges, including lack of qual-
ity seed, poor quality feed, lower production,
inadequate food safety and quality control and
marketing constraints. In addition to these, there
have been some concerns in recent years for sus-
tainable prawn farming because of the presence of
residues of banned antibiotics in harvested prawn.
It is therefore necessary to overcome these chal-
lenges with the help of institutional and organiza-
tional support, technical assistance, improved
government facilities and infrastructure, extension
services and training programmes. Introduction of
responsible prawn farming management at all lev-
els as well as implementation of measures for qual-
ity control would ensure sustainable development
of the prawn sector in Bangladesh.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the contribu-
tions of many colleagues and friends who provided
valuable information in writing this manuscript.
The guidance and encouragement of Prof. David
C. Little and Dr. Francis Murray, University of Stir-
ling, UK are highly appreciated. An EU funded
SEAT (Sustaining Ethical Aquaculture Trade) pro-
ject provided the financial support to Drs. M.A.
Wahab and Mahfujul Haque to attend the Giant
Prawn 2011 workshop held in Kochi, India. The
constructive criticisms and suggestions of two
anonymous reviewers have been very helpful in
improving the manuscript.
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