Post-Harvest Handling and Marketing of Shrimp and Prawn in South-We

The current study was designed to investigate the post-harvest handling situation in the marketing channel of shrimp/prawn of Bangladesh. A total of 75 farmers, 75 forias, 70 depot owners, 30 auctioneers, 30 commission agents and 20 factory owners were interviewed on the post-harvest and marketing of shrimp/prawn from Khulna, Satkhira and Bagerhat district. Most of the farmers and local traders were found to be unaware about the proper post-harvest handling of the products to retain the European Union approved quality. Post-harvest handling and marketing channel of shrimp involved six major stakeholder groups viz. farmers, local forias, depot owners, chatal auctioneers, commission agents and factory owners. The marketing chain was plagued by various problems at different stakeholder levels. Fish markets were found to be managed, financed and controlled by a group of powerful intermediaries called account holders. The depot owners and the commission agents were found to be rich and powerful in the chain and exploited the farmers and small traders. Icing was adequate in almost all stages of prawn/shrimp marketing chain except in the farmers' level. A concerted effort is needed to upgrade the marketing chain of shrimp in Bangladesh to reduce the marketing cost, stabilize the prices and overall improvement of the marketing efficiency.