The Shrimp Board says a temporary decision to import fresh shrimp to help the shrimp-processing business will not have any impact on local prices.
Chalermchai Suwannarak, chief of the Department of Fisheries, told media on Friday that fluctuations are due to the global economic crisis, but prices have been good since last year, helped by an insurance system that boosts the price by 11-20 baht per kilogramme.
He said the move to allow imports was agreed by all stakeholders, including shrimp farming associations and wholesalers.
Mr Chalermchai said there is a shortage in supply due to shrimp farm closures caused by the pandemic, resulting in a 55% drop in production and poor-quality stock.
"The decision was made by the tri-party board so there will be no impact on the local shrimp price as there is already a price guarantee in place," he said.
"This is also the first time that the price guarantee does not require any money from the government. Instead, the subsidy is from the private sector," he said.
He insisted that the measure is temporary and would be terminated when things return to normal.
According to the department, 10,501 tonnes of fresh shrimp from Ecuador and India were imported by food-processing businesses this year. Meanwhile, the domestic shrimp yield for the first half of this year was 138,732 tonnes.
To maintain the local price an insurance scheme was introduced last October, which adds 6.32-12.70 baht per kilogramme to the market price and 11.85-20.64 baht per kg for farmers.
He said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has a clear policy to revive the shrimp farming industry and see annual yields return to 400,000 tonnes by 2023.