50 JUNE 2025 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG India’s shrimp farming industry has existed more than four decades now, with its commercial roots back in 1983 driven by scientific farming practices, growing demand and government policies and mandates to promote seafood exports. Early shrimp industry growth in India was largely dominated by Black Tiger Shrimp culture (P. monodon) (Figure 1) and Indian white shrimp (Fenneropenaeus indicus) to a lesser extent. Black tiger culture led to the development of an entire ecosystem and value chain where hatcheries, feed millers and input suppliers played catalyzing roles in industry growth (Suresh 2020). Shrimp farming activity gained pace between 1991 and 1992, with production increasing from 40,000 ton to 143,000 ton by 2006-2007 mostly along the east coast of India (MPEDA 2008, Ramaswamy, Mohan and Metian 2013). In the west coast of India this made gains in the late 1990s in terms of area, production and socio-economic impacts. Despite the growth in production of P. monodon, its cultivation had some setbacks such as reliance on wild stocks, lack of proper domestication, inconsistent seed quality, non-uniform or poor growth rates, and diseases like Vibrio spp., loose shell, hepatopancreatic virus and the most devastating viral disease White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV). This led to gradual decreases in black tiger shrimp production in India. Later, after the tremendous production potential of American white leg shrimp, L. vannamei, was apparent, it was introduced in India on trial basis in 2003 and later through cohabitation studies made officially in 2009. This exotic shrimp was able to be reared in the existing shrimp ponds and hence was readily introduced in the existing infrastructure in India (Figure 2). Established shrimp farmers and the industry as a whole readily accepted this transition due to many reasons. These included Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) broodstock, shrimp seed of SPF status, adaptability to higher stocking densities, higher production per unit area (3 to 5 tons per hectare compared to 1 to 1.5 tons per hectare of black Tiger shrimp), uniform quality of seeds, uniform growth rates and faster growth than P. monodon even above 20 gram size. This gave the Indian shrimp industry a boost in production by many folds, making India the top shrimp exporter in the world. Production of L. vannamei was predominantly in East India, with Andhra Pradesh being the major producer, but the positive effects of L. vannamei success were also seen in states like Gujarat. The Vannamei Era: Reasons for Growth The growth of L. vannamei shrimp farming and its comparison with black tiger shrimp is explained in Table 1. The L. vannamei production growth gave opportunities to many hatcheries, feed millers, input suppliers and animal healthcare companies, and more importantly gave economic gains to the shrimp farmers of India (Table 2). There were various genetic lines being developed for L. vannamei and they are SPF, SPR (Specific Pathogen Resistant), hardy lines adapted to extreme or unfavourable conditions and APE (All Pathogen Exposed) (Figure 3). Eventually more than 90% of the commercial shrimp produced in India was attributed to L. vannamei. Its growth also resulted in development of new management practices. The adoption of intensive and super-intensive culture and the transition from semi-intensive culture further boosted white leg shrimp production in India. Another important aspect in the expansion of L. vannamei culture was the acceptability of shrimp at various sizes as well as various value-added opportunities. India saw a production of close to 1 million metric tons during the “Vannamei Era” (Figure 4). ASIAN PACIFIC CHAPTER CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE: India Gearing Up to Bring Back Black Tiger Shrimp Culture Manoj Mohanlal Sharma and Mayank Manoj Sharma FIGURE 1. The native black tiger shrimp, P. monodon was the primary species in India’s early shrimp farming industry.
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