INTEGRATED PROTECTED AREA CO-MANAGEMENT (IPAC) - BIDS

Some shrimp fry Aratdars buy shrimp from the Farias to sell to the commission agents who then
sell to the processors and exporters. Commission agents are typically medium to large size
entrepreneurs.
The profile of shrimp fry collectors indicates that a large number of them are either children or
women; some catch by boats and some catch manually at the banks of river or canals. The
shrimp fry is a sector that provides substantial economic opportunities to particularly middle and
lower level participants in the value chain 78 .
The shrimp fry catchers have little ability to influence the price at which they sell their product.
Intermediaries such as Farinas and Aratdars reap the bulk of the value addition. The lenders or
dadondars act as monopolists; once the credit is extended, the borrower must sell their product
to the lender. There are spot markets, where fry is bought, sold, and delivered immediately,
typically at higher prices than prices received in the factory or in the depots.
Value Addition
The shrimp value chain is complex, more than any other products, with a variety of actors and
intermediaries at each node of the chain. Although there is said to be a ban on fry catching fry
collectors appear to have continued to operate, however, at the risk of insecurity and increased
level of unofficial payments that they are required to pay to local officials.
Tables 5.9 and 5.10 present costs and returns for shrimp fry for galda and bagda type
respectively. The same set of actors are involved in the whole chain for galda and bagda type;
they are collectors, Beparis and Aratdars. Considering value addition in terms of price, it can be
seen that collectors of shrimp fry (galda and bagda) provide highest price value addition, around
57 to 64 percent of the total price.
Table 5.9: Value addition and return for shrimp fry (galda)
Actor type
Costs and returns for shrimp fry (galda)
Average selling
price/piece
Price
Value
Addition
(%)
Av. volume
Per month
(piece)
Collector 2.00 57.1 9256
(2.0)
Bepari 2.65 18.6 150000
(32.7)
Aratdar 3.50 24.3 300000
(65.3)
Total - 100.0 459256
(100.0)
Note: See note under Table 5.1.
G. Return
(Tk/month)
18543
(5.0)
97500
(26.3)
255000
(68.7)
371043
(100.0)
Cost
(Tk/month)
Net Return
(Tk/month)
4950 13593
(6.4)
34125 63375
(30.0)
120700 134300
(63.6)
- 211268
(100.0)
Working
capital
Net
Return
as % of
WC
- -
90000 70.42
425000 31.60
- -
Table 5.10: Value addition and return for shrimp fry (bagda)
Actor type
Costs and returns for shrimp fry (bagda)
78
The study team observed a large number of women and girls are involved in catching fry by the side of rivers
who are apparently belonging to higher middle and middle income groups of the community.
119