JOHOR BARU: Malaysian prawns are losing out to those brought in from Indonesia and Thailand following the implementation of stricter biosecurity laws overseas.
Malaysian Prawn Industry Association chairman Syed Omar Syed Jaafar (pic) said local sales of prawns from Thailand and Indonesia had affected over 3,000 prawn breeders involving 12,500ha of land throughout the country.
“The selling price of prawns in the current market is lower than the operating cost. The losses borne by breeders are now up 40% compared with two months ago.
“Two months ago, local prawns were still being sold at RM26 per kg but now, the market price has dropped to RM15 per kg.
“This is due to the influx of imported shrimps in the local market, especially from Thailand and Indonesia, which has caused the supply to exceed existing demand,” he said.
Malaysia, he added, produced about 48,000 metric tonnes of prawns, with the local demand at only around 36,000 metric tonnes.
“We export the rest to the international market. However, problems arise when the biosecurity laws of these countries, including Thailand, became stricter, making it difficult and time-consuming to obtain approval for entry, thus lowering the price of our shrimps.
“At the same time, our own country’s biosecurity law facilitates the entry of these imported prawns to the extent that it affects local prices, causing entrepreneurs to suffer losses” he said.
Syed Omar said before 2000, the industry did not face any problem because Malaysian prawns fulfilled around 50% of the demand for prawns in Thailand.
“However, since the stricter enforcement of the biosecurity law, the industry has started to be affected.”
He urged the government to tighten the country’s national biosecurity laws involving shrimps to be equivalent to those implemented by other countries.
