Penaeid production

In 2005: 2 461 000 tonnes

Penaeid shrimp aquaculture occupies over a million hectares of basins in the tropics and produced almost two and a half million tonnes in 2004. Production had increased regularly over 20 years until 2004 which was marked by a high increase, particularly in Asia (88 %).

Worldwide distribution of Penaeid shrimp production


Asian production continues to rise strongly, causing a relative decrease in the proportion produced on the American continent, even though this is also growing.

Trends in production


FAO 2007 (2005 data)  

The quantity of penaeids fished has been stable for a number of years, while aquacultural production continues to increase.


The balance between shrimp fishing and aquaculture is highly variable between countries. While Greenland’s geographic position rules out any shrimp aquaculture, Thailand and Equador in the tropical zone show very different proportions. In Thailand the two activities are almost equal, but in Ecuador aquaculture is highly dominant.

Penaeid species in aquaculture


FAO 2007 (2005 data)  

Production of P. vannamei, a species originally reared on the Pacific coast of latin America, has recently started in Asia. This species now represents half (57 %) of total world production, replacing the previous main shrimp species P. monodon (29 %) reared in Asia.

Some name changes have been made.

Penaeus monodon 

Penaeus monodon 

Penaeus esculentus 

Penaeus esculentus 

Penaeus semisulcatus 

Penaeus semisulcatus 

Penaeus vannamei 

Litopenaeus vannamei 

Penaeus stylirostris 

Litopenaeus stylirostris 

Penaeus chinensis 

Fenneropenaeus chinensis 

Penaeus indicus 

Fenneropenaeus indicus 

Penaeus japonicus 

Marsupenaeus japonicus