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The government has permitted importing more than 2.16 million pieces of non-native vannamei shrimp seed, aiming to cultivate the species commercially in the country, according to the commerce ministry.
M/s D A Enterprises would import the seed called "Live White Shrimp-PL (Litopenaeus Vanname)" from India.
The imported seed can be used only for the production of new seed as the commerce ministry issued the permission recently.
Earlier, the ministry permitted importing more than 5.11 million pieces of the same seed.
The government has already allowed starting commercial production of vannamei shrimp, also known as whiteleg shrimp in the country, with a view to adding it to the country's export basket.
In 2020, the Department of Fisheries (DoF) for the first time permitted two pilot projects on vannamei shrimp farming.
Frozen fish exporters have long been demanding that the government allow vannamei farming, as Bangladesh's black-tiger shrimp species has lost price competitiveness in key western markets, like the United States (US) and the European Union (EU).
The export volume and earnings from the frozen shrimp sector is expected to double within five years due to cultivating such a high-yielding variety of shrimp, an official said, adding that it will also help meet the local demand for shrimp.
According to the frozen fish exporters, vannamei is a leading item on the global shrimp market because of its affordable prices.
More than 60 countries, including China, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Ecuador and Mexico, are producing vannamei, meeting about 80 per cent of the global demand.
However, Bangladeshi exports meet only 2.0 per cent of the international demand for frozen shrimp, according to the Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation.
The country once boasted about 100 frozen-fish factories and this sector ranked second among the export-oriented sectors even a decade ago.