This is the Seamark Vannamei Farm in Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar. Beside the Marine Drive, the company once had a hatchery here; now vannamei shrimp are farmed scientifically. Entrepreneur Iqbal Ahmed has invested 250 million taka and fitted the 12-acre farm with modern technology. When the programme was filmed, the first harvest of farmed vannamei was under way.

Vannamei is a high-yielding shrimp species from the eastern Pacific. For its high output and disease resistance it is now farmed widely around the world, and 80 per cent of shrimp produced globally is vannamei.

Experimental farming of vannamei began in Bangladesh in 2019. After four years of tests, the government allowed commercial production in 2023. Seamark's proprietor Iqbal Ahmed set up the farm that year and in April stocked vannamei fry for the first time in fully controlled ponds. Market-ready shrimp are now being harvested.

Source: Shykh Seraj, Hridoye Mati O Manush. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.