Fresh water prawn market exists: Staff

 THERE is a market for fresh water prawns in Papua New Guinea, an official says. 

National Fisheries Authority (NFA) aquaculture and inland fisheries manager Jacob Wani said the demand seemed there were no freshwater prawns sold in stores and supermarkets at the moment.

When asked whether NFA thinks there is a market for freshwater prawns in the country, Wani said: 

“I think so. I don’t see prawns at the supermarkets now. With marine prawns now retailing at about K45 a kilogramme, this can be sold at about K20 or K30 per kilogramme and other people will still make money.

“I think there’s a market. But like I think freshwater prawns and tilapia can compete with Tablebirds.”  

Wani said this during the investment seminar on freshwater prawn Aquaculture at the National Research Institute in Port Moresby yesterday.

He said NFA had received a lot of requests from people wanting to farm fresh water prawns.

“At NFA we didn’t have the capacity to be able to breed prawns to give to people who were showing interest.

“We have reached the first phase of the project which is to breed our indigenous specious which is the giant fresh water prawn.

“Now the next thing we want to do is to see if the private sector and the people want to adopt.

“There are two business aspects here. One is the actual farming of the fresh water prawns.

“The other is the hatchery component.

“We did it as a research as a facility for the student and if there is an investor who is serious in taking that technology and making it like a commercial hatchery, that would be good too,” Wani said.