Southern shrimp farmers to rally tomorrow for government help

Representatives of shrimp farmers across the country plan to rally in front of the Fisheries Department on Thursday and submit a petition to Agriculture Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit over the Malaysian government’s decision to ban the import of five shrimp species from Thailand from June 1.

The species are Lai Sua, Chae Buoy, Khao Wannamo, Kula Dam and Nam Ngern.

Additionally, Malaysia is also requiring that imports of sea bass from Thailand be accompanied by a health certificate stating that the fish are safe for consumption.

Ekapoj Yodpinit, president of the Thai Shrimp Association, said today that the Malaysia’s import ban has adversely affected shrimp farmers in the southern provinces of Songkhla, Trang, Satun, Pattani, Narathiwat and Nakhon Si Thammarat, which are major producers of shrimp for Malaysian market.

He claimed that the ban has stranded 100-150 tonnes of unsold shrimp per day, because there is no market to absorb them.

He said shrimp farmers would like Suriya to seek talks with his Malaysian counterpart to resolve this problem or to ease or delay the import ban.

He also said that he suspects the import ban might be in retaliation against the Fisheries Department’s recent tighter screening of sea bass imported from Malaysia, a process which may take up to two weeks to complete.

Representatives of shrimp farmers in Songkhla and Trang told the media that Malaysia imports between 8,000-10,000 tonnes annually from southern Thailand, worth about two billion baht.

They claimed that the import ban will expose shrimp farmers to exploitation by Thai middlemen who will suppress the price of shrimp.