Disease outbreak has devastated shrimp production across about 250 of 324 farms in Dakkhin Soilmari and Khalishibunia villages of Batiaghata upazila, Khulna, with farmers estimating combined losses of more than bdt 150 million over the past one to one-and-a-half months.
The affected farms operate largely under semi-intensive shrimp production systems, where farmers stock shrimp at higher densities and invest heavily in hatchery-produced seed, commercial feed, water-quality management and aeration.
Molla Shamsur Rahman Shahin, president of the Fish Farm Owners Association Bangladesh (FOAB), said the scale of the outbreak has caused significant financial pressure on farmers who had increased their investment following a profitable previous season.
Black tiger shrimp, locally known as bagda, is the dominant species cultivated in the area.
Farmers report heavy mortality
Bipradas Boiragi, a farmer from Chak Soilmari, said he earned about bdt 1.2 million in profit from shrimp farming last year. Encouraged by that return, he stocked 51,000 post-larvae in his 48-decimal pond in late June.
The shrimp began dying by August 14.
After spending about bdt 150 thousand on seed, feed and pond preparation, Boiragi eventually sold the surviving shrimp for only bdt 42 thousand.
“I worked day and night, hoping the shrimp would survive and fetch a good price. But everything was ruined in the end. I feel completely broken,” he said.
Other farmers have reported similar losses. Lipton Mondal of Rakhi Fisheries said approximately 90,000 shrimp died, while Shubhankar Mondal and Kripa Gain each reported losses of more than 100,000 shrimp. Other farmers said mortality ranged from 20,000 to as many as 400,000 shrimp per farm.
Farmers said they purchased post-larvae from Fishtech Hatchery and Desh Bangla Hatchery at around Tk 1,500 per 1,000 seed. They allege that poor-quality or infected seed contributed to the outbreak and have linked the mortality to white spot disease (WSD) and early mortality syndrome (EMS).
Hatcheries reject allegations
The hatcheries have denied responsibility.
MA Hasan Panna, owner of Desh Bangla Hatchery, said seed-related problems could occur but questioned whether hatchery-supplied seed could be blamed for disease outbreak and shrimp dying two to three months after stocking.
He stressed that even disease-free seed requires appropriate farm-level biosecurity and environmental conditions to survive.
Fishtech Hatchery owner Tarek Sarker also rejected the allegation that its seed caused the outbreak. He pointed to environmental conditions and farm biosecurity and said the company was investigating the situation. Fishtech is also considering incentives for affected farmers, according to Sarker.
Fisheries officials identify multiple viruses
The Department of Fisheries (DoF) has taken samples from affected farms for laboratory testing.
Md Badruzzaman, Khulna district fisheries officer, said three samples were tested. Two were positive for white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), the virus responsible for white spot disease, while another tested positive for infectious hypodermal and haematopoietic necrosis virus (IHHNV).
The affected shrimp were between 42 and 84 days old.
“If the fry were infected in the hatchery, then they would not have survived for so long,” Badruzzaman said, arguing that the timing of mortality makes farm-level infection a more likely explanation.
According to the DoF, inadequate biosecurity may have allowed pathogens to enter or spread through people, animals, crabs and bird droppings.
Officials also raised concerns over long-term production practices in the area.
“These shrimp houses have been cultivated in the same way for a decade. Shrimps here needed crop rotation. Then it is possible to break the chain of disease,” Badruzzaman said.
Disease management remains a major challenge
The DoF’s assessment is consistent with established shrimp pathology. WSSV can cause extremely high mortality in susceptible shrimp populations, with outbreaks potentially killing most of a stock within days.
IHHNV has a different disease profile in black tiger shrimp. Research has generally associated the virus with chronic growth problems and runt-deformity syndrome rather than the rapid, large-scale mortality typically associated with WSSV.
The DoF said it has been advising affected farmers and recommending mineral supplements. However, no hatchery inspection or compensation program has so far been announced.
Semi-intensive farming model under pressure
The outbreak comes as Bangladesh seeks to expand productivity through more planned and intensive shrimp farming.
According to Shahin, Bangladesh has approximately 270 thousand hectares under shrimp cultivation, but semi-intensive farming remains concentrated in a limited number of areas.
Shubhankar Haldar, a farmer from Khalishibunia, said converting agricultural land into shrimp ponds costs at least bdt 150 thousand per bigha (33 decimal), before regular production costs such as seed, feed, labour and water management.
“We have to monitor the ponds around the clock. After spending so much money and working so hard, if the shrimp die, how can we recover the loss?” he said.
The Batiaghata outbreak highlights a key vulnerability of Bangladesh’s move toward higher-input shrimp production: as stocking densities and investment increase, disease outbreaks can produce substantially larger financial losses.
Stronger farm-level biosecurity, improved water and pond management, disease surveillance, responsible seed sourcing and production breaks or crop rotation could therefore become increasingly important as semi-intensive farming expands.
Bangladesh shrimp sector continues to grow
Despite disease and production challenges, Bangladesh’s farmed shrimp and prawn sector has continued to expand.
The country produced approximately 315,000 tonnes of farmed shrimp and prawn in FY2024, increasing to around 326,000 tonnes in FY2025.
Bangladesh’s 46 black tiger shrimp hatcheries produced 8.83 billion seeds in FY2025, supporting the country’s growing aquaculture industry.
The sector also remains an important export earner. Bangladesh exported approximately 23,237 tonnes of frozen shrimp worth Tk 3,041 crore in FY2025.
For producers in Batiaghata, however, the immediate priority is recovering from the outbreak. The episode also underscores the need for stronger disease prevention and traceability throughout the shrimp production chain; from hatchery seed quality and farm biosecurity to disease monitoring and emergency response.
