The evolution of a worldwide shrimp industry

Transcription

1 The evolution of a worldwide shrimp industry Ha n s Ac ke fo r s 1 The increase in capture and culture production of shrimp during the last decade is conspicuous. Since 1994, world production has increased 25 percent. During the same time, the trade of this commodity has increased by more than 60 percent. There are several reasons for that, including the great market demand and not least, the possibility for developing countries to decrease their trade deficits. Shrimp are the most valuable commercial crustaceans in the world. They are farmed or caught by various types of fishing vessels. The total production in 2004 was more than six million t, which corresponded to 5-6 percent of the total yield in the sea, produced in fisheries and aquaculture together. The total value of that production was US$21 billion 2. Of this value, 54.4 percent were from capture and 45.6 percent from aquaculture production. The world export of shrimp (both marine and freshwater) was 2.1 million t with a value of US$11.8 billion. The catches of all shrimp species from temperate and tropical areas amounted to nearly 3.6 million t in This was estimated to be about 4.4 percent of all catches of marine fish and shellfish. In addition to that amount, nearly 2.5 million t were cultivated. This means that about 43 percent of all shrimp produced were cultivated and 57 percent were captured. In farming activities, nearly all production came from tropical large species in the family Penaeidae, while catches consisted of both large tropical shrimp and medium-sized temperate species. Of the 3.6 million t of captured large shrimp, 22 percent consisted of tropical shrimp and 78 percent of others, which mainly came from temperate and subtropical areas. Commercial Species Giant Tiger prawn ( Penaeus mondon) was formerly the most important species in Asian shrimp culture. It has been replaced by the introduced whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) from Ecuador and other South American countries. (Photo: S. Chaitiamvong) Shrimp belong to the group Decapoda, which have five pairs of legs (periopods). They are closely related to such other commercial crustaceans as lobsters and crabs. Taxonomically, the well-known tropical species are placed in the order, Dendrobranchiata. They are distinguished from the real shrimp, Caridea, by having claws on the first three pairs of periopods. More than 500 species are known. They are pelagic in the upper waters or live in very deep water. Among these shrimp, we find most of the tropical Penaeid species, while most of the temperate species belong to the order Caridea. Within this systematic order we find nearly 3,000 species. Very few species of both orders are of commercial value and, thus, are not fished or farmed commercially. To be complete, there is also an order of shrimp, Stenopodiaea, which is a small group of no commercial importance (Holthuis 1980). From the FAO statistics, the capture quantity comprises about 60 species, but few of them are of great importance (FAO 2006a). On the aquaculture side, about 20 species appear in the statistics and only a few are commercially important (FAO 2006b). Large tropical shrimp species in the family Penaeidae 2 are now on the world market in most countries. They are caught in tropical or subtropical areas and, in addition, are cultivated in large quantities mainly in SE Asia and Latin America. Nearly 100 countries reported cultured shrimp production to FAO, while about 20 nations fish for those species. Whiteleg shrimp (western white shrimp [Penaeus vannamei]), giant tiger prawn (P. monodon) and fleshy prawn ( P. chinensis) are the dominant farmed species. In commercial fisheries, giant tiger prawn, banana prawn (P. merguensis) and northern brown shrimp (P. aztecus) are the most common species. 3 The family, Palaemonidae, includes both tropical and temperate species. Only the large tropical freshwater shrimp, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, is of importance in farming. The species is cultivated in large quantities in China and Thailand (FAO 2006b). 46 September 2009

2 Table 1. Catches and farming quantities in the shrimp industry Fig. 1. The total world production of shrimps in 2004 was about 6 million tons. Forty-three percent of all shrimps were cultivated while the majority, or 57%, was caught in the fishery. (Figures from FAO). There are a few dominant species that are fished in temperate areas. In the Pacific, large catches are taken of the Akiami paste shrimp (Acetes japonicus) and southern rough shrimp (Trachypenaeus curvirostris). The former species belongs to the family Sergestidae while the latter belongs to the family Penaeidae. In the Atlantic, the northern prawn (Pandalus borealis) in the family Pandalidae is the most common species in the fisheries. Within the family Crangonidae, Crangon crangon, is of great economic value. It is captured in large quantities in the North Sea and is used both for human consumption and for the production of meal. All of the commercially important species were illustrated in a book by Dore and Frimodt (1987). The authors referred to the FAO saying that there are about 340 species of commercial value. But Dore and Frimodt (1987) limited the number illustrated to the most important ones, which, according to them, are 70 species. The Evolution of a Shrimp Industry Table 2. In 1950, when FAO started to collect information about fishery and aquaculture production, the majority of the yield came from the fisheries and almost nothing was farmed. In that year, 412,000 t were caught and only 1,325 t were cultivated. In Table 1 we can follow the figures for capture and culture at five year intervals. In 1965, catches doubled, while small quantities were cultivated. In 1970, the catches exceeded one million t and in 1985 nearly two million t were cultivated. In 1975, the quantities cultivated had increased to more than 20,000 t and, 10 years later reached more than 200,000 t. Farmed production increased very rapidly, reaching 2.5 million t in 2004, while the catch Year Catches 2 Farmed 2 Total The table includes all types of marine shrimps and prawns according to the FAO statistics. 2 in 1000 t. Catches of Penaeid shrimps and prawns of the 15 most prominent countries in (FAO 2006a). Country Catches in Dominant species for each country tons India 181,569 Giant Tiger prawn Penaeus monodon USA 122,209 Northern brown P. aztecus Northern white P. setiferus shrimps Indonesia 105,556 Banana prawn P. merguensis China 98,764 Fleshy prawn P. chinensis Thailand 66,197 Banana prawn P. merguensis Mexico 58,064 Penaeus spp. Australia 21,356 Giant Tiger prawn P. monodon Brazil 20,319 Penaeus spp. Philippines 16,626 Penaeus spp. Mozambique 12,403 Penaeus spp. Venezuela 11,480 Penaeus spp. Nigeria 11,410 Southern pink shr. P. notialis Saudi Arabia 6,628 Green tiger shrimp P. semisulcatus Peru 6,514 Penaeus spp. Pakistan 4,461 Penaeus spp. reached 3.6 million t that year. The total production in 2004 was thus, 6.1 million t (Table 1, Figure 1). World Catch of the Large Tropical Shrimp Species Penaeid shrimp species are important in the world fishery statistics though now the amount of cultivated shrimp has increased in the share of the total. In 2004, 2.5 mil- Wo r l d Aq u a c u lt u r e 47

3 Table 3a. The most important species in the Atlantic. Species with high catches are indicated with bold letters for the area. The Atlantic Various areas Species Common name acc. to FAO divisions P. aztecus Northern brown shrimp NW, WC P. setiferus Northern white shrimp NW, WC P. duorarum Northern pink shrimp NW,WC P. brasiliensis Red spotted shrimp SW P. paulensis Sao Paolo shrimp SW P. notialis Southern pink shrimp EC P. kerathurus Caramote prawn Mediterranean and Black Seas P. japonicus Kuruma prawn Mediterranean and Black Seas Table 3b. Dominant Penaeus species in various parts of the Pacific and the Indian Ocean according to FAO statistics for Species with high catches are indicated with bold letters for the area. The Pacific P. chinensis Fleshy prawn NW P. japonicus Kuruma prawn NW P. penicillatus Redtail prawn NW P. merguensis Banana prawn WC P. monodon Giant tiger prawn WC P. semisulcatus Green tiger prawn WC P. latisulcatus Western king prawn WC P. brevirostris Crystal shrimp EC P. californiensis Yellow leg shrimp EC P. occidentalis Western white shrimp SE The Indian Ocean P.monodon Giant tiger prawn W+E P. semisulcatus Green tiger prawn W+E P. merguensis Banana prawn E P. latisulcatus Western king prawn E Northern Prawn (Pandalus borealis) is the most important cold water shrimp species in the Atlantic with a catch of nearly 450,000 tons in (Photo by Matz Berggren) brown shrimp and northern white shrimp are important species, especially in the Caribbean. The two species totaled around 56,000 t. In the same area, the catches of northern pink shrimp was about 8600 t. In South America, red spotted shrimp is rather important with catches around 6000 t, while Saõ Paulo shrimp is of minor importance. Southern pink shrimp is an important species outside western Africa, with catches in 2004 of 13,000 t. The only important species in the Mediterranean was caramote prawn, where catches reached nearly 6,000 t. Thus, the total yield in 2004 in the Atlantic was close to 150,000 t. There are 10 important commercial species in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. None of those species are found in the catches of the Atlantic vessels, except Kuruma prawn, which was introduced into the Mediterranean Sea from the Pacific. The most important species is giant tiger prawn, which occurs in both the Indian and Pacific with a yield of 200,000 t in Another species of great importance is fleshy prawn in the NW Pacific with annual catches of about 100,000 t. The catches of Kuruma prawn and redtail prawn in the NW Pacific were small, while the catches of banana prawn were about of 90,000 t in the Pacific and Indian Oceans together. Western king prawn was of little importance as was yellow leg shrimp, crystal shrimp and western white shrimp. The conclusion is, thus, that only four species are of great importance in the two oceans: fleshy prawn, banana prawn, giant tiger prawn and green tiger prawn. In addition to the catch totals attributed to those species, about 200,000 t were lion t were cultivated and 0.8 million t were captured. The catches of other shrimp species, mainly in temperate and tropical areas, was 3.5 times larger. There are about 20 different species in the family Penaeidae that are commercial. Some species reach large size, such as the giant tiger prawn, which can reach a length of 360 mm. In Table 2, the 15 most prominent countries involved in the shrimp fishery are shown. The table also shows the most common species for each country. About 110 countries reported that they were fishing for this type of shrimp (FAO 2006a). However, only six countries took very large catches and their share of the total yield was 79 percent in India caught 182,000 t, USA 122,000 t, Indonesia 106,000 t, China 99,000 t, Thailand 66,000 t and Mexico 58,000 t. All the other countries caught 170,000 t in total. There are three species in the catches that are important: giant tiger prawn, banana prawn and fleshy prawn. The species caught in various oceans are listed in Tables fished, but reported only as Penaeus spp. 3a and 3b. In the Atlantic and adjacent areas, northern (Continued on page 50) 48 September 2009

4 Fig. 2. Catches of Northern prawn ( Pandalus borealis) on the northwestern (NW) and northeastern (NE) sides of the Atlantic between 1993 and Figures from FAO. Fig. 3. The catches of Common shrimp ( Crangon crangon) in the North Sea and adjacent areas. (Figures from FAO). (Continued from page 48) Fishing Technology in Tropical Areas Artisanal fishery The large tropical shrimps are caught with rather primitive methods in the artisanal fishery and usually with advanced methods in the industrial fishery. The artisanal fishery for shrimp is extremely important in many developing countries. In Bangladesh, for instance, 4-5 more shrimp are taken in this type of fishery than in the industrial fishery (Rahman 2001). It is, therefore, likely that many catches are never registered in that type of fishery, which means that the reported catches, in general, are underestimated by many countries. In many tropical countries, the dugout canoe is the most common craft in use in small scale fisheries, such as in Tanzania (Haule 2001). It is propelled by oars and poles or occasionally with sails when operating in open waters. Planked boats equipped with sails and/or outboard engines are employed. Various types of seines are the predominant gears. There are nets and seines made of nylon yarn with mesh sizes ranging from 2.5 to 5 cm and 0.16 to 1.3 cm. There are two types of nets usually operated from dugout canoes drifting with one end attached. The length of that net is 103 m, while a longer one of 344 m is set across channels within the intertidal zone. Nets held between two mangrove poles are frequently towed by two persons operating on foot. Other types are the cast-nets, beach seines, lift nets and mosquito nets. But there are also traps in the form of pots among other types of gear. Many catching operations are performed without any type of boat; others use simple vessels such as rowboats or sailboats in Bangladesh (Rahman 2001). In that country five types of gillnets are used. In addition, trammel nets and beach seines are used. Various types of bagnets are also used. Specialized nets are used for collecting shrimp postlarvae that are used for growout by aquaculturists. Fine-mesh push nets, fixed bagnets and dragnets are used along the coastline for harvesting postlarval Penaeus mondon. The Industrial shrimp trawl fishery The industrial fishery is carried out in offshore waters and involves various types of trawlers, which use one, two or four nets. The nets are usually m long and made of polyethylene or polyprophylene in Nigeria (Ogbonna 2001). The mesh size in all trawl sections are, except for the cod end, between 51 and 55 mm. The legal mesh size in the cod end of the shrimp trawl net is 44-mm stretched net. The average engine power is hp. The vessels are furnished with a refrigerated fish hold and with a freezer. The vessels can operate day and night. The double-rigged/outrigger refrigerated vessels operate day and night pulling either two or four otter trawl nets. The towing speed is knots. Many vessels are furnished with turtle excluder devices. In various developing countries, the detrimental effect of shrimp trawling on natural resources is recognized. It is obvious that the trawling methods may impoverish the living resources if the fishery is not regulated. This is especially true for shallow nursery grounds along the coast. Too many shrimp juveniles are taken and killed before they mature and can contribute to the fishery. Another problem is that benthic fauna and seagrass beds are being destroyed by trawling activities. In some areas, the situation is alarming and the natural habitats for shrimp and other invertebrates are destroyed, which can lead to decreased production. Another serious effect of shrimp trawling is the amount of bycatch. In some areas the bycatch is very large. It may be 80 percent or more of the catch. This is also the case when fishing for juveniles where often more than 90 percent of the catch consist of non-desirable species. The Catch of Small or Medium Sized Shrimp in the Atlantic and the Pacific Except for the large tropical shrimp species, there are four species of great importance in the Atlantic and Pacific. In the northern Atlantic, the northern prawn (Pandalus borealis) is of economic interest. The total catch in 2004 was 450,000 t. Common shrimp (Crangon crangon) was also of economic interest. The catches are around 40,000 t per year. In the northwest Pacific, two species are of great importance: southern rough shrimp (Trachypenaeus curvirostris) and Akami paste shrimp (Acetes japonicus). The catches were 300,000 t and 680,000 t. The northern prawn is a coldwater species that is distrib- 50 September 2009

5 uted at high latitudes, mainly in the Atlantic but also in the Pacific. It is considered to be the subspecies Pandalus borealis eous. Northern prawn prefer clay and mud bottoms in seawater at depths between 20 and 1,380 m. The species is exclusively used for human consumption. The Atlantic species is medium sized with females reaching 165 mm. It has great commercial value and is fished on both sides of the Atlantic, where more than 20 countries take part in the fishery. In the Greenland area, it is the most important species in the fishery. In the northeastern Atlantic, Norway and Iceland take the largest portion of the catch, while on the other side of the Atlantic, Canada and Greenland take most of the catch. The catch seems to increase in the NW Atlantic off the northern coast of America and Greenland, while they decrease on the European side (Figure 2). Increasing catches on the northwestern side of the Atlantic can be explained by decreasing predation pressure from cod, which have disappeared from some areas. The shrimp are fished by trawlers at depths from 50 to 500 m. Common shrimp (Crangon crangon) is a less important species compared to northern prawn. It is mainly fished in the North Sea area by two countries, Germany and the Netherlands (Figure 3.) There are also small catches in other areas, including the Black Sea. The species occur on sandy and muddy bottoms from shallow areas down to 150 m. It can reach a size of 90 mm, but it is often smaller. It is peeled and usually sold frozen or in brine. It is used for human consumption and for industrial purposes, mainly as an ingredient in pelleted feed. Akiami paste shrimp (Acetes japonicus) is of great commercial value in the northwestern Pacific. China dominates the fishery and caught 670,000 t in Rather small catches were also taken by the Republic of Korea (Figure 4), but it was also fished in many other countries, although the catches were not reported to FAO. Various authors have reported that the species was also caught in Viet Nam, Thailand and Malaysia (Holthuis 1980). Its geographical distribution is, thus, large in many parts of Asia. It occurs in shallow water above muddy bottoms. The male can reach a total length of 24 mm and the female 30 mm. The tiny shrimp is made into shrimp paste or powder. It is also farmed. In some years, the quantity harvested has been around 3,000-4,000 t. Another important species is southern rough shrimp (Trachypenaeus curvirostris). The species has a wide distribution from China and Japan in the north to Australia in the south and in many areas as far to the west as south Arabia. It occurs from m. The species prefers muddy sand bottoms and water from meters (Dore and Freemoth 1987). The species reaches a total length of 81 mm for males and 98 mm for females. The reported catches in 2003 were more than 400,000 t, up from 300,000 t in 2004 (Figure 5). The species is mainly fished by China. In Japan, it is used for both human consumption and for bait. The Farming of Large Tropical Shrimp Species: How it started Several hundred years ago, shrimp started to be cultivated in Asia. From the beginning, the methods were Whiteleg shrimp ( Litopenaeus vannamei) originates from the eastern Pacific outside South America where it is cultivated above all in Ecuador. This species has been introduced gradually in Asian aquaculture since In 2004 China produced 735,000 tons, followed by Thailand with 276,000 tons. (Photo by Granvil Treece) Fig. 4. The reported catches of Akiami paste shrimp ( Acetes japonica) has increased very much during later years. The catches since the end of 1990s are now in the magnitude of tons according to FAO catch statistics. Fig. 5. The catches by Southern rough shrimp ( Trachypenaeus curvirostris) reported to FAO. Wo r l d Aq u a c u lt u r e 51

6 Table 4. About 20 species have been cultivated in 2004, according to the FAO statistics. Only eight species or groups are important or rather important, marked with bold letters. From the countries in parentheses, no yield was reported. Species - common name Latin name Areas Dominating countries Banana prawn Penaeus merguiensis South-east Asia Indonesia, Viet Nam Southern white shrimp Penaeus schmitti Central Atlantic Cuba Kuruma prawn Penaues japonica Asia, Europe and Australia China Blue shrimp Penaues stylirostris Central America, Pacific New Caledonia Whiteleg shrimp Penaeus vannamei South America, Asia China, Ecuador, Indonesiea. Mexico, Thailand, Viet Nam Giant Tiger Prawn Penaeus monodon Asia China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam Fleshy prawn Penaeus chinensis Asia China Caramote prawn Penaeus kerathurus (Africa) (Algeria) Green tiger prawn Penaeus semisulcatus (Europe,Africa) (Italy, United Arab Em) Brown Tiger prawn Penaeus esculentus (Australia) (Australia) Northern White shrimp Penaeus setiferus (USA) (USA) Indian white prawn Penaeus Indicus Europe, Asia, Africa India,Iran, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam Redtail prawn Penaeus penicillatus Asia China Taiwan Penaeus shrimps nei Penaeus spp. Asia, Africa, South and Central America Bangladesh, China,Honduras Eastern school shrimp Metapenaeus macleayi (Australia) (Australia) Geasyback shrimp Metapenaesu ensis Asia China Taiwan Metapenaeus shrimps nei Metapenaeus spp Asia Indonesia Akiami paste shrimp Acetes japonicus Asia Indonesia Baltic prawn Palaemon adspersus (Europe) (Ukraina) Natantia decapods nei Natantia Asia, China Taiwan Table 5. The most prominent countries cultivating large tropical shrimps. Country Amount Percentage Value Percentage cultivated of value in million of total in tons 2004 US$ 1. China Thailand Viet Nam Indonesia India Brazil Mexico Bangladesh Ecuador Malaysia Myanmar (Burma) Other countries Total very simple. Usually the farms were situated in the tidal zone in ponds or other types of enclosures. By using tidal water, wild fry were collected close to the shore. In the enclosures, the fry consumed naturally produced feed. Gradually, more sophisticated methods were developed and the postlarvae and juveniles were fed with feed supplied by the farmers. In the 1930s, Japanese scientists successfully propagated shrimp in captivity. Motosaku Fujinaga was the first scientist to breed Kuruma prawn (Penaeus japonicus) in captivity (Bardach et al.1972). During a period of 30 years, the technology was improved and commercial shrimp farming began in the 1960s. Technology was also developed for other species around the world when it became obvious that research was needed for each new aquaculture candidate species. But, for some species breeding in captivity was difficult to achieve. The farmers became dependant on wild fry that were caught in coastal areas or gravid females caught at sea. By the end of 1980s, production through farming of large tropical shrimp started to exceed the wild catches for the first time according to FAO 2 (Figure 52 September 2009

7 Table 6. The 20 most prominent exporting countries of shrimps in 2004 Country Tons of product Country Tons of product Thailand Malaysia China Brazil India Belgium Denmark Bangladesh Viet Nam Mexico Indonesia Iceland Greenland Norway Canada Argentina Ecuador United Kingdom Netherlands Venezuela Fig. 6. The catches of the large tropical shrimp species compared to the amounts of shrimps that were cultivated in various farming activities. From the 1980s the yield from farming was larger than the one from catches. (Information from FAO). Table 7. The 20 most prominent exporting countries of shrimps in Country Million US$ Country Million US$ Thailand Ecuador 326 Viet Nam Malaysia 322 China Belgium 297 India 813 Greenland 262 Indonesia 799 Brazil 219 Denmark 563 Argentina 214 Netherlands 402 Spain 183 Bangladesh 349 Iceland 167 Mexico 347 France 165 Canada 345 United Kingdom 154 Fig. 7. The value of shrimp aquaculture in the world has increased from less than one billion US$ in 1984 to ten billion US$ in (Figures from FAO.) 6). Since then, farming has increased gradually and in the new millennium the increase is conspicuous. Today, farm production is three times higher than the wild catch of the large shrimps. Total production from farming increased during the past decade from close to 0.9 million t to 2.6 million t. Late in the 1990s and, above all, at the beginning of the this century, the South American species Litopenaues vannamei, was introduced into Asia and has partly replaced indigenous P. monodon in the ponds. This has meant a revolution in Asian aquaculture. The output per unit area seems to have increased. Species Farmed Many species around the world have been tested as candidates for farming. As a result of this activities, research has been performed in conjunctions with many species. Many species have been in focus for some time in various countries but only a few species are cultivated in large quantities. According to FAO statistics, nearly 20 species are cultivated. The most important ones are indicated by bold letters in Table 4. At one time, the giant tiger shrimp was the most farmed Fig. 8. The export of shrimp increased seven times from 1976 to shrimp species in Asia. It was named for its large size and banded tail. It is also called the jumbo tiger prawn and blue tiger prawn among many other names. It is the biggest species used in commercial culture and can reach a size of 363 mm. It is native to the Indian Ocean and the southwestern Pacific Ocean from Japan to Australia. The giant tiger shrimp tolerates a wide range of salinities. It cannot be propagated in captivity. It is necessary to catch Wo r l d Aq u a c u lt u r e 53

8 gravid females, then the eggs are hatched in ponds or other enclosures. But there is often a shortage of wild females and they command a very high price. Although more than 50 countries reported to FAO that they cultivate shrimp, 11 countries cultivate 92.3 percent of the total amount produced (Table 5). The production of shrimp in aquaculture facilities is profitable for the developing countries. The value of the total production over the last 20 years is shown in Figure 7. Fig. 9. The value of shrimp export has increased from less than one billion US$ in 1976 to about 12 billion US$ in Table 8. The import of shrimp of the 20 most prominent countries. Country Tons of product Country Tons of products USA Iceland Japan Netherlands Spain Canada Denmark Malaysia France Russian Federation United Kingdom Germany Korea, Republic of Australia China Norway Belgium China,Hong Kong Italy Sweden Table 9. The import of shrimp of the 20 most prominent countries measured in million US$. Country Million US$ Country Million US$ USA Germany 249 Japan Korea, Republic of 202 Spain 970 Australia 174 France 664 Malaysia 172 United Kingdom 604 China 136 Belgium 437 Singapore 128 Denmark 419 Sweden 128 Italy 401 Portugal 120 Canada 317 China, Hong Kong 107 Netherlands 281 Thailand 91 The Shrimp Trade Worldwide shrimp production seems to increase yearly. As a consequence of the increasing demand from many countries, especially the USA, Japan and the EU, the export of this commodity exceeded two million t in 2004 (Figure 8). Since 1976, exports have increased from a little more than 300,000 t to the present figure of about two million t. In 1983, exports totalled 500,000 t, while five years later it was one million t. The level of 1.5 million t was reached by 2000 and only four years later it exceeded two million t. There are, in general, developing countries that contribute to exports. Among them are China, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Viet Nam in Asia. From South America, Ecuador is the most prominent exporter. In total, there are more than 125 countries that export shrimp to the world market. The huge export trade in shrimp generates significant income for many developing countries. The export value was more than US$12 billion in 2004 (Figure 9). From 1976 to 1986 the annual export value was less than US$5 billion. During the period 1987 to 1994 there was a rapid increase in the export value from US$5 billion to US$10 billion, reaching a plateau for some years. This indicates that the very high production during the later years depressed the prices for the export countries. In 2004, just over two million t of shrimp were exported. Of this quantity, 85 percent was exported by the 20 most prominent countries (Table 6), with a value of US$11.8 billion (Table 7). Each of the two countries, Thailand and China, exported more than 200,000 t and another five countries exported more than t. They were India, Denmark, Viet Nam, Indonesia and Greenland. More than 100 countries exported only a total of 15 percent of shrimp on the world market. Some countries exported shrimp and also import them. According to the FAO statistics, shrimp are sold as breaded frozen, canned, peeled fresh/dried/salted/brine, peeled frozen, shell-on fresh/dried/salted/brine, shell-on frozen in nine different sizes and as three other types of frozen products. The Import of Shrimp The three largest importers of shrimp in 2005 were the USA, Japan and the EU. The amount of shrimp imported by these three groups of countries is about 25 percent of world shrimp production, corresponding to 75 percent 54 September 2009

9 of the shrimp exported on a worldwide basis (Figure 10). The expenditure for shrimp imports amounted to US$11-12 billion. The 25 EU countries imported US$ billion, the United States US$ billion and Japan US$ billion. There were 274 countries that imported shrimp in 2004 according to FAO. Most of them imported rather small or very small quantities. A few countries imported large quantities (Figures 10 and 11). If we consider the 20 most prominent countries importing shrimp, we find that over 91 percent of the total amount, or 1.9 million t, were imported by this group of countries. In total, 274 countries imported shrimp in In Table 8 the quantities for the 20 countries are shown and in Table 9 the values are presented. Conclusions No other fishing industry dealing with fish and shellfish commodities seem to be more vigorous than that for shrimp. Quantities of commercial shrimp appear to increase from year to year. The market demand is increasing. But for some years, the market seems to be constant and price drops have been occasionally observed. In some cases, there are political reasons for the price drop. Notes 1 Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden 2 Stefania Vannuccini, at the FAO statistical department, Rome, has kindly forwarded the unpublished data from the FAO database. 3 The taxonomy of genus Penaeus has been revised recently ( Pérez Farfante and Kensley, 1997). The species P. aztecus, P. brasiliensis, P. brevirostris, P. califoniensis, P. notialis and P. paulensis have been referred to the genus Farfantepenaeus. The species P. japonicus is referred to the genus Marsupenaeus. P. kerathurus and P. latisulcatus are now referred to the genus Melicertus. The species P. merguensis and P. penicillatus are referred to the genus Fenneropenaeus. Finally the species P. occidentalis and P. setiferus are referred to the genus Litopenaeus. Only P. monodon and P. semisulcatus are still referred to the same genus Penaeus. In this paper we keep the earlier and commonly used names, which are obvious in the FAO statistics. Acknowledgment Many thanks to Richard Grainger, Alan Lowther, Luca Garibaldi and Stefania Vannuccini at the FAO statistical department, Rome, Italy for their support. References Bardach, J.E., J.H. Ryther and W.O. McLarney Aquaculture: The Farming and Husbandry of Freshwater and Marine Organisms. Wiley-Interscience, New York, NY USA. Dore, I. and C. Frimodt An Illustrated Guide to Shrimp of the World. Osprey Books and Scandinavian Fishing Year Book. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). 2006a. Fishery statistics, Capture Production, Vol. 99. Fig. 10. The main importers of shrimp in the world are European Union, US and Japan. Fig. 11. The main importers of shrimp in the world are European Union, USA and Japan. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). 2006b. Fishery statistics, Aquaculture Production, Vol. 99/2. Haule, W.V Reducing the Impact of Tropical Shrimp Trawling Fisheries on the Living Marine Resources through the Adoption of Environmentally Friendly Techniques and Practices in Tanzania. In FAO Fisheries Circular No. 974, Hothuis,L.B FAO Species Catalogues. Vol.1. Shrimps and Prawns of the world. FAO, Rome, Italy. Ogbonna, J.C Reducing the Impact of Tropical Shrimp Trawling Fisheries on the Living Marine Resources through the Adoption of Environmentally Friendly Techniques and Practices in Nigeria. In FAO Fisheries Circular No. 974, Pérez Farfante, I. and B. Kensley Penaeoid and Sergestoid Shrimps and Prawns of theworld. Mémorires du Muséum National D Histoire Naturelle, Tome 175. Rahman, M The Impact of Shrimp Trawling Fisheries on Living Marine Resources of Bangladesh. In FAO Fisheries Circular No. 974, Wo r l d Aq u a c u lt u r e 55