Frozen fish export unable to catch a break

Business Desk :
The country’s frozen fish export remains unable to recover from its decade-long slump, despite promising figures in the last two fiscal years.
Earnings fell by 27.39% to $208.27 million during the first five months of the current FY23 from $286.85 million in the corresponding period (Jul-Nov) of last FY22, according to the latest Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data.
Industry insiders attribute the reversal to a decline in the demand for the expensive fish products in the up markets, mainly in the European Union, under the influence of high-rated inflation amid the Russia-Ukraine war.
“A major reason is that we could not introduce a low-cost variety of shrimp like vannamei despite several attempts over the years,” said an insider.
Export of the item has been on the decline for over a decade apparently due to the scarcity of raw materials and the fall in global demand for the expensive local varieties of shrimp, they pointed out.
In FY11, export earnings from local frozen and live fishes, including shrimp, stood at $625.04 million and has been on a slide since, except for FY14 when the sector earned the highest $638.19 million.
The downward trend continued until FY20 to reach $456.15 million, before recovering to some extent in the following two FYs — as export earnings rose to $477 million and $532.94 million respectively in FY21 and FY22 respectively, EPB data showed. Fish and shrimp exporters said both prices and demand for frozen fish declined in the major markets, especially in the European Union, because the global market is flooded with vannamei.