Fish and shrimp farmers call for establishment of feed factories in Arakan State

25 Jan 2023

DMG Newsroom
25 January 2023, Sittwe

Freshwater fish and shrimp farming businesses in Arakan State are facing feed shortages and rising feed prices, according to fish and shrimp farming breeders.

Fish and shrimp feed has to be bought from mainland Myanmar or foreign countries, and the prices of the feeds are currently skyrocketing, say fish and shrimp farmers in Arakan State. 

They are facing financial losses due to the increase in feed prices, and are calling for fish and shrimp feed factories to be established in Arakan State.

“Fish feed factories need to be established in Arakan State,” said U Hla Aung, a fish and shrimp breeder in Ponnagyun Township. “Another thing is that experts are needed in the fish farming industry in Arakan State. We need experts to facilitate fish farming in Arakan State. The fish feed we have to order from mainland Myanmar is expensive due to the political situation and transportation barriers.”

A bag of feed for fish and shrimp used to be purchased from Yangon for about K35,000, but currently, the price has increased to K75,000.

Shrimp farmers in Arakan State also have to order shrimp feed to feed their shrimp hatchlings from Thailand.

“The food that is fed to the shrimp hatchlings is bought from Thailand. If there are experts, we are thinking of producing our own feed for shrimp hatcheries,” said U Zaw Win Htay, a freshwater shrimp breeder in Kyaukphyu.

U Kyaw Htoo, secretary of the Agriculture and Livestock Development Association of Ponnagyun Township, said loans should be provided by the relevant authorities in order to build fish and shrimp feed factories in Arakan State.

“As a fish and shrimp farmer, setting up a fish feed factory is not easy. It would be even better if the government would disburse loans to fish and shrimp farmers to set up the feed factories in Arakan State,” he added.

DMG contacted U Hla Thein, the Arakan State military council spokesman and attorney-general, regarding the fish and shrimp farmers’s calls for the establishment of feed factories in Arakan State, but he could not be reached.

Freshwater fish and shrimp farming activities are mainly carried out in the Arakan State townships of Kyaukphyu, Myebon, Ponnagyun and Sittwe, and there are government-owned breeding farms as well as privately owned counterparts.