A needless diversification: A perspective on the unregulatedintroduction and culture of the Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeusvannamei, in India

摘要

The giant tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon (Fabricius) popularly called the black tiger in the international markets, has been, and continues to be, the leading cultured species in India. Superior growth rate and a high market demand have made it a good candidate among the available marine shrimp species in India for commercial aquaculture. However, of late, the species has been observed to be vulnerable to several viral and bacterial pathogens that have resulted in the recurrence of diseases, such as vibriosis and White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) in many regions of India from Andhra Pradesh on the east coast to Kerala on the southwest coast, thereby devastating the shrimp culture industry in India and inflicting losses amounting to approximately US$21 million. It has been estimated that in 1994 alone, the losses due to disease outbreaks in the country totaled over US$17.6million (Subasinghe et al. 1995). It is in this context that industry sources are actively promoting the introduction of a non-native species, the Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, as an alternative to P. monodon for commercial aquaculture operations in the country (Rajeev and Prasad 2003).