February 13, 2026

 

Myanmar exported US$725 million worth of seafood products in 2024-25

 

Myanmar is continuously developing the fisheries industry, and in the 2024-2025 financial year, Taninthayi Region—the country's top exporter of saltwater fish products—earned US$303.628 million from seafood exports, including US$30.562 million from saltwater shrimp, an amount expected to rise this financial year compared with last year, according to the Taninthayi Region Fisheries Federation.

 

In the 2024-25 financial year, the country exported approximately US$725 million worth of seafood products, with Taninthayi Region earning US$303.628 million from raw seafood exports, and increasing the production of finished products could bring greater benefits to both the state and fisheries entrepreneurs.

 

"Currently, we are exporting Panamei white shrimp to China and Japan, shipping them by sea at US$5,000 to US$6,000 per tonne, depending on the size,"  said U. Thet Soe, Secretary of the Taninthayi Region Fisheries Federation.

 

"Although the shrimp catch at sea has decreased, farming operations are running normally. We export white shrimp to China after boiling and to Japan after freezing because that is how buyers prefer them. Last year, we earned more than US$30 million from saltwater shrimp exports, and this year, we expect income to increase due to a rise in the number of farmers. We also need to work on increasing overall shrimp production."

 

Panamei white shrimp are being farmed in the Kawthoung, Myeik, and Dawei districts. About four million shrimp postlarvae are stocked in a two-and-a-half-acre pond and raised for three months, generating foreign income from the export of both large and small shrimp. In Panamei white shrimp farming, the number of shrimp is usually reduced during the rainy season due to lower water salinity and increased during the summer when salinity rises.

 

If the market for Panamei white shrimp, which is exported annually, becomes more open, more farmers will raise and produce larger quantities, and in addition to white shrimp, there will be opportunities to export live lobster and mantis shrimp (Harpiosquilla harpax), which are also frozen, thereby generating foreign income.

 

Taninthayi Region, the largest exporter of seafood products, could double or even triple its income by producing and exporting finished seafood products. Producing such finished products would also pave the way for developing an international-level fish auction market and industrial zone in Myeik, capable of producing seafood on par with global standards and further increasing annual foreign income.

 

- The Global New Light of Myanmar