Tiger prawns or jumbo prawns are one of the most nascent products, carving its presence to Indian market. These prawns are cultivated along India’s 8500 km coastline in maritime states like Gujarat, Kerala, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. It is true that aquaculture is used to breed fish ranging from rohu to catla to crabs and ponfret in India but primarily it is associated with prawns.
Kamlesh Gupta, chairman of Aqua Alliance, said that prawn harvest is a four-step process, from the hatchery to the retail floor. But the foremost aspect of aquaculture involves fishermen collecting broodstock or parent prawn from the sea. Gupta informed that once the broodstock has been obtained it is transferred to a captive environment in a tank in the hatchery for mating.
Ravi Kumar, owner of Vaishaki Bio Resources Ltd., said that between 4-8 lakh eggs are spawned by the female stock. He also added that the eggs hatch within a couple of hours, post which algae is fed to them. After about 25 days, the eggs reach the post-larvae (PL) stage and are thereafter taken to the fish farms.
According to Ravi Kumar, India produces around 1.2 lakh tonnes of tiger prawns each year, of which more than 95 per cent is exported mainly to Japan, the US, and the European Union. He added that Indian are also attracted towards tiger prawn. Samar Singh Sheikhawat, marketing vice-president at Spencer’s Retail, said that the sale of tiger prawns is quite decent, accounting for Rs 3-4 lakh each month in the large format 70,000 sq ft stores and about Rs 1 lakh in stores measuring upto 4,000 sq ft. He concludes that with each passing day the demand for tiger prawns is rising.
