THE Thai Marine Shrimp Farmers Association today (June 20) urged the Department of Fisheries to ban the import of low-priced shrimps from Ecuador which is now affecting Thai shrimp farmers, Sanook.com said this afternoon (June 20).
Mr. Somchai Rerkpokee, the association’s president, said he has heard foreign shrimp are being sold to local consumers at a low price and this is affecting Thai farmers as there is not a short supply locally.
Even if the shrimp from abroad is being imported to be processed here for re-export as Thai shrimp this has a negative impact on farmers and the country as a whole, he added.
He also thanked the department for having earlier banned the import of shrimp from India and for rigorously mounting traceability of this marine product.
Thai shrimp farmers had been previously badly hit by the Covid-19 crisis but with the help of this department and several other sectors the price bounced up from 120 baht for 70-80 pieces / kg of shrimp to 140 baht.
However the price has dropped again with shrimp of the same size being sold at 110-115 baht a kg with this greatly affecting the farmers.
Somchai also pointed out that processing and repackaging foreign shrimp and exporting them as Thai variety could affect the image of Thailand which is famous worldwide for its good quality shrimp.
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Some Thai shrimp. Photo: Siam Rath
