There is scope for increasing the area under coastal aquaculture and boost shrimp production by bringing in an additional one lakh hectare to produce about one lakh tonnes of shrimp in the next five years, minister of state for agriculture, Taslimuddin said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

He, however, said no target in terms of value could be fixed for the next five years due to the fluctuations in the shrimp price in the international market and the exchange rate of rupee.

The measures taken by the government in order to boost prawn / shrimp production in the country include:

i. 429 fish farmers development agencies (FEDAs) and 39 brackish water fish farmers development agencies (BFDAs) have been set up to provide a package of technical, financial and extension support to prawn / shrimp farmers for production of fresh water prawn (scampi) as well as brakishwater shrimp.
ii. Financial assistance in the form of subsidy is also provided to the beneficiaries through these agencies to undertake farming activities.
iii. Coastal states have been asked to review the land lease policy to bring in additional areas for coastal aquaculture.
iv. Guidelines have been formulated under the rules framed under the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act, 2005 for regulating coastal aquaculture to ensure sustainable development of shrimp aquaculture in the country and for adopting good management practices.
v. The National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) has approved a proposal to set up a multiplication centre by availing technology from a Hawaiian firm to produce specific pathogen-free seeds of P.monodon for supply to the shrimp farmers.
vi. Risk analysis / assessment study has been undertaken to study and advise the Government on the pros and cons of introducing exotic shrimp varieties and for suggesting a clear and well regulated mechanism for importation of stocks of such species.