The Department of Fisheries of Bangladesh has allowed 11 hatcheries to cultivate whiteleg shrimp, four of them in Chattogram, local news reported. In order to test whether whiteleg shrimp can cope with the local environment, the Fisheries Department gave permission to 11 companies in the country to farm vannamei on a trial basis for a year.

The move comes following pleas from exporters as locally grown black tiger shrimp and freshwater prawn are unable to compete with cheaper varieties in western markets. Hatchery owners said their cost of production is higher than vannamei. As a result, they have to ship local varieties at the prices of vannamei, in order to retain the buyers, thus incurring losses.