Demand in international markets for soft shell crab produced in Bangladesh is rising steadily, farmers and agriculture officials say. Exports are growing to the United States, Japan and Australia as well as to many European countries, and the main supplier is Shyamnagar upazila in Satkhira district.

The export figures are climbing quickly. Government records show that 644 tonnes of soft shell crab were exported from the greater Khulna region in 2023-24, rising to 1,166 tonnes in 2024-25. G M Selim, the Satkhira district fisheries officer, told BBC Bangla that around 750 tonnes were exported from his district alone in the last financial year.

A domestic market is forming as well. "The shell is softer than an ordinary crab's, so it is easier to eat. That is why the market inside the country is also growing," Mr Selim said.

The appeal to farmers is commercial. Crab farmers and officials say that alongside rising international demand, the low risk of disease and the speed at which a return comes have led many to start raising soft shell crab in the brackish water of their shrimp enclosures.

Two methods of crab farming are practised in Bangladesh. One is fattening — collecting small crabs, rearing them under set conditions and selling once they reach weight. The other is soft shell production: harvesting the crab in the box immediately after it moults, while the new shell is still soft, and processing it for export.

The method is labour intensive. Small and medium crabs are collected from the rivers and canals of the Sundarbans, then each is kept separately in a small floating plastic box or cage in shallow brackish water and fed small fish or snails. Once moulting begins the crab must be lifted before the new shell hardens, kept in clean or cold water, then graded and frozen for export.

The Agriculture Information Service website sets out the yield: "In soft shell crab farming, soft and dead crabs must be removed quickly by observing every three hours, day and night. It is possible to produce 2,500 to 2,600 kilograms of soft shell crab per acre of pond every two months." Farmers and specialists believe production could be multiplied many times over across the country's large coastal belt with better technology.

Source: BBC Bangla