KOLKATA, India: Shrimp farmer Buddhadeb Pradhan from Nandigram, West Bengal, in eastern India, took a big risk by growing a second cycle of shrimp within weeks of harvesting his first cycle.
But he needs money and is willing to risk a diseased crop, as is often the case when a pond has two harvest cycles in the same year.
The drop in shrimp prices caused by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on India was also a contributing factor to his decision.
“With the price of shrimp falling, I am worried whether I will be able to recover the 300,000 rupees (about 338,000 yen) I invested,” he told Al Jazeera.
India is the second largest producer of shrimp in the world after Ecuador, mainly for export. In the fiscal year ending March 2025, the company shipped $5 billion worth of frozen shrimp around the world, with the U.S. accounting for about 48% of its sales.
The company produces two commercial varieties of marine and freshwater shrimp, Black Tiger and Pacific Whiteleg, commonly known as vannamei (Litopenaeus vannamei).
According to the latest data available, India’s shrimp production was 1.1 million tonnes in the financial year ending March 2024, mainly vannamei, but also 5% from black tiger.
India has two distinctive shrimp cycles for vannamei starting from February to June and from July to October. Farmers are generally reluctant to embark on a second cycle for fear of disease. Black tiger is a monoculture from March to August.
This shrimp is cultivated in the coastal states of West Bengal, Gujarat, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala. Manoj Sharma, a veteran shrimp farmer, said the industry employs about 10 million people, including those in shrimp farms, hatcheries and processing facilities.
Since the tariffs were announced in May, farmed shrimp prices have fallen from 300 rupees ($3.38) to 230 rupees ($2.59) per kilo as farmers try to land whatever they can get their hands on. Production costs are 275 rupees ($3.10) per kilogram, and losses are mounting.
Nardu Das, 40, a shrimp farmer from Nandigram, told Al Jazeera that unless the market stabilizes and prices rise, farmers may be forced to consume “poison”.
The 40-year-old said shrimp farming costs money, including electricity, land rental, feed and other costs.
“Farmers not only risk their savings, they take out loans in the hope of huge profits. But disease and falling prices often push farmers to the brink of poverty,” he says.
Farmers fear they will lose the U.S. market due to a 58.26% tariff that includes a 5.77% countervailing duty and a 2.49% anti-dumping duty.
“The US is a preferred destination for shrimp exporters due to its easy market access, strong growth prospects, high profit margins and repeat customers,” said Rahul Guha, senior director at Crisil Ratings.
India takes chartered flights of parent shrimp (a term used to refer to mother shrimp) from the United States to breed to produce seeds for aquaculture. However, there are cases where shrimp products are of poor quality or unsuitable for India’s environment, causing diseases and having to be discarded.
“We have requested the government to breed shrimp using local broodstock to get quality seeds adapted to our conditions,” said IPR Mohan Raju, president of the Indian Prawn Farmers’ Federation.
Another ripple effect of the tariffs is on hatcheries. There are around 550 private hatcheries in India that depend on these shrimp farmers for their livelihood.
Rabid Kumar Yelanki, president of the All India Shrimp Hatcheries Association, said several farmers have stopped buying seedlings due to fears of further decline in shrimp prices, and at least half of the hatcheries have already shut down.
“Without a doubt, U.S. tariffs are starting to have a significant impact on hatcheries, with many hatcheries ceasing production,” Ilanki said.
These hatcheries produce about 80 billion seeds a year, but in the past four months, 7 to 8 billion seeds have been lost due to lack of demand from farmers as the seeds are kept for just three to four days.
“If the situation does not return to normal soon, it will be a big loss for hatchery owners,” Yelanki added.
Ecuador has another headache
India already faces stiff competition from Ecuador, which is increasing its share of the US market due to its geographic proximity to the US.
Ecuador produces high-quality vannamei shrimp at a low price because it is a domestic species. Additionally, its tariffs are much lower than India’s at 15%, making it a more attractive market for the US to source from.
In the first nine months of 2025, Ecuador exported 1,038,208 tons of shrimp to the United States, an increase of 14% year-on-year for a total value of $5.51 billion, an increase of 23% year-on-year.
Aquaculture expert Sharma said the US tariffs would force Indian exporters to compete with each other for sales to alternative markets.
His suggestion is for companies to tap into India’s domestic market, one of the markets that is often ignored. “There is a complete ignorance (among exporters) about the domestic market, and this has a lot of potential,” he said.
