54 JUNE 2025 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG Case Study of Gujarat Shrimp Farming As mentioned earlier, due to disease, production issue and lack of market competitiveness, the vannamei farming in Gujarat is almost negligible and farmers have shifted to culturing black tiger shrimp using SPF P. monodon lines to produce large sized premium quality shrimp. Farmers in Gujarat are able to cater sizes from 20 count per kg (50 grams) to as low as 10 count per kg (100 gram). However, the sizes 85 grams to 100 grams have niche premium markets and require 250 to 300 days of culture with continuous monitoring and stringent biosecurity. So, the farms which can get 300 days of culture without any disease incidence, predominantly WSSV, can surely try to achieve this size (Figure 5). More importantly, the water parameters of Gujarat, especially the salinity (15 to 30 ppt on average) allow optimal growth to the desired size. Despite of the cost of production challenges which Gujarat faces in world markets for vannamei and with the Indian state Andhra Pradesh, farmers there are doing very good with black tiger culture in terms of higher farm gate prices and more success in farming (Figure 6). Black tiger culture gives stability to the farmers above 25 grams, where it starts resulting in sizeable profits at 16- to 20-count per kg shrimp, which is achievable within 140 to 180 days depending on genetics, stocking rates and farming management. In short, black tiger culture has brought stability to the shrimp farmers of Gujarat and maintained their profit margins (Table 3). As most farmers are able to grow black tiger up to 45 to 50 grams easily, they fetch minimum profits of USD 2 to 2.2 per kg. At sizes above 62.5 grams the profit margins increase exponentially to USD 3 to 5 per kg of shrimp produced. Things to Look Upon Despite the huge success and potential of black tiger farming in India there are certain aspects which should be considered to ensure its guaranteed success. World shrimp production: World shrimp production is approximately 5.6 million metric tons with vannamei being the most predominant species with black tiger hardly accounting for about 10% of the total shrimp basket. China, Vietnam, Malaysia and other Asian countries have a strong domestic presence as well which limits the world shrimp basket. Market: Black tiger is an Asian variety, and is more popular at sizes above 25 grams with markets predominantly in China, EU and Japan. Sizes: Vannamei shrimp is acceptable at all sizes from 5 to 50 grams, while black tiger markets prefer animals above 25 grams. Disease: White spot syndrome virus, or WSSV, is still a major bottleneck which poses a risk for obtaining the desired days of culture to reach marketable size. Hence, maintaining proper biosecurity measures and quality assurance checks of seed is vital. Addressing high organic loads to avoid Zoothamnium spp., along with stable water parameters, is important. Farmers’ experience: Farmers in India are more familiar and experienced with vannamei and have to adapt to black tiger culture, especially with regard to feeding management. Vannamei is predominantly a column feeder while black tiger is a benthic feeder. Hence, farmers will have to learn to adapt. Morever managing a production cycle of 200 days is something farmers who have only practiced vannamei farming are not experienced with. To address black tiger specific challenges these farmers must FIGURE 5. Black tigers can easily be raised to 50 grams or even larger for specialty markets. FIGURE 6. Farmers in Gujarat are doing very well with black tiger culture. India’s pursuit to revival black tiger farming is commendable and they have been doing great work with providing the necessary technical foundations (seed, feed, technical knowledge and relevant inputs).
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