Demand for prawns continue

The demand for prawn farming continues to grow as there is a lack of supply in the market.

This has been revealed at the Galoa Aquaculture Centre in Navua.

Hatchery Technician, Teresia Verekoto says to date they continue to receive requests from farmers who wish to pursue prawn farming.

She says it’s not an easy task to breed prawns as it requires attention 24/7.

Verekoto says they usually give out 10 day old post larvae of white shrimps to farmers on a first come first serve basis.

Farmers are to bring their request letter and a copy of their land to receive assistance.

The project to ensure farmers are supplied with white shrimp larvae and freshwater shrimp larvae was launched in July, 2018 in conjunction with the Taiwan Trade Mission and the Ministry of Fisheries.

So far, the project has assisted a number of farmers by handing out over a million shrimp larvae.

Currently, 7 farmers in the Western Division, 3 farmers from the Central Division, 4 farmers from the Northern Division and 2 farmers from the outer islands are being assisted by the project.

They are given 10-day-old post larvae of white shrimps and fresh water shrimps to breed and later sell to the local markets.

The current price for shrimps in the market is between $20-$60 a kilo, but prior to COVID-19 it used to be above $60 a kilo.