STUDY FOR ASSESSING MUD CRAB (SCYLLA SERRATA, FORSKAL, 1755) MARKET CHAIN AND VALUE-ADDED PRODUCTS DEVELOPMENTIN BANGLADESH

摘要

Scylla serrata (Forskal, 1755) is playing an alternative to shrimp culture where 0.3 million people are directly involved in crab value chain. A study was carried out in the south-west and south-east coastal regions and Dhaka to asses mud crab marketchain and value-added products development activities in Bangladesh. About 70% of mud crab come from Khulna and the rest from Chattogram, Barishal, and Noakhali region for export. Mud crabs were collected from nature, shrimp farm, coastal pen, and cage.The crabs value chain comprises farms/nature-collectors-small depot, large depot and exporters. Peak trading season was June to December and off-peak was January to March. In 2015-16 about 88% of crabs were exported to China which fulfilled 20-30% of buyer's demands. Four types of crab products were exported, of which 78% were live crabs. About 20% exporters produced crab meat and leg. Crab export has significantly increased (pLlO.05) from 2009 to 2016.