Thailands Seafood

With over 2,500 kilometers of fertile, storm-shielded coastline, Thailand has emerged as one of the world’s leading suppliers of seafood products, earning US$ 4.1 billion from international export sales in 2004.

The Thailand seafood industry is known for its outstanding quality, variety, freshness, and taste. Thai seafood has received worldwide recognition and has consistently maintained several top positions in the seafood industry including:


The world’s top exporter of frozen shrimp - The leading exporter of canned tuna - Asia’s top exporter of processed seafood.



Is it any wonder why people come from around the globe to sample these delicious catches?






Thailand's shrimp culture industry is the fastest growing in Southeast Asia. In only 5 years, Thailand has outstripped its competitors to become the region's number one producer. Thai shrimp harvests in 1988 reached 55,000 metric tons , a 320 percent increase over the 13,000 tons produced in 1984. Indonesian and Philippine harvests rose by only 62 percent and 51 percent, respectively, over the same time period. Thailand's 1989 farmed shrimp production is expected to nearly double, surpassing 100,000 tons.



The explosive growth of the Thai cultured shrimp industry has been accompanied by the rapid expansion of shrimp hatcheries and feed mills. In 1985, Thailand had one shrimp feed mill and a market demand of 6,000 t. Three years later, there were 15 shrimp feed mills and a market demand of 100,000 t. Supplies of shrimp pl are obtained from government hatcheries, about 1,500 family-owned backyard hatchery operations, and large-scale agro-industrial concerns.


The largest producers of aquaculture (fish and shellfish) are China (it tripled its production in the past ten years), India, Indonesia, Japan, Bangladesh and Thailand.

In terms of capture of fish, crustaceans, mollusks, etc., the largest producer is China (it doubled its production in the past 10 years) followed by Peru, the USA, Indonesia, Japan and Chile.

Although the world’s demand for shellfish (shrimp) continues to expand, the supply environment is becoming more competitive. According to Seafood International Magazine, in 2003 shrimp consumption continued to increase in many countries (e.g., in Spain, France and Italy).