The shrimp industry is playing significant role to the economy of Bangladesh for the last few decades. The aim of this study is to review the last forty (40) years trend, present status and propose a blockchain based framework to entry into fourth industrial revolution for enhancing export potentiality. In doing so, the study gathers different information from both secondary and primary data sources. A significant production trend and yield with the area expansion were found in shrimp industry. This has been possible due to the adoption of new production and management technologies, and need based policy formulation. Despite substantial progress achieved with shrimp production during the last four decades, growth of shrimp export remains minimal in Bangladesh. Traditional paper- based record-keeping methods for the shrimp supply chain are disparate and, therefore, cannot provide efficient traceability capacity and holistic view of the supply chain. Focusing on the export market, we propose a distributed and accumulative score-based certification approach that will grade packaged shrimps according to the completeness and accuracy of the authenticated data entered during different stages. In this framework, from the post-larva purchasing to the final packaging stage, relevant data for every stage will be entered by the associated actors via mobile/web app or Internet of Things devices to the blockchain network. Such distributed approach of certification will enhance not only food safety but also the quality and compliance to best practices.
Keywords: Past trend, fourth industrial revolution, value-addition, export, certification, shrimp industry