Indian black tiger shrimps

Black Tiger shrimp (Binomial name- Penaeus monodon) is a marine species belonging to the crustacean group and is reared for food. It is also known as the Asian tiger shrimp and giant tiger prawn.

Key Points

  • The female species of black tiger shrimp are normally 25 to 30 cm long but can reach 33 cm. Their weight is around 200 to 320 g.
  • The male species are smaller than females and are 20 to 25 cm long. They weigh around 100 to 170 g.
  • Its natural distribution is the Indo-Pacific region, starting from the eastern coast of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, till northern Australia.
  • It is the second-most widely cultured prawn species in the world, after white-leg shrimp.
  • Environmental Organisation, Greenpeace added black tiger shrimp to its seafood red list in the year 2010.

Japan relaxes norms for importing Indian black tiger shrimps

  • Japan has recently exempted import inspection for the Indian black tiger shrimps.
  • As the export consignments were found totally free from any residue of synthetic anti-bacterial drug furazolidone, Japan has lifted the inspection.
  • Before this on March 25, Japan had reduced the import inspection of the Indian Black tiger shrimps to 30% from 100%. Now, with the recent relaxation, the country has provided complete relaxation to Indian black tiger shrimps import inspections.

Indian Black Tiger Shrimps Export

Japan is the second-largest market for Indian black tiger shrimps after the United States and consumes nearly 40% of India’s exports. In 2019-20, India exported around 17,990 tonnes of black tiger shrimps. This export was valued at $161 million. Out of the total export, 5,092 tonnes was exported to Japan. The Indian black tiger shrimps exports to the US stood at 6,754 tonnes out of the total exports.

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