Trichy: Cyclone Gaja has made a substantial damage on the saline water aquaculture farms lining the coastal belt on the delta districts covering Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, and Thanjavur, which are renowned as frontrunners in shrimp production. Sources with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry claimed that the damage is likely to affect the state’s productivity, particularly the L Vannamei shrimp also called whiteleg shrimp. Apart from economically decimating the marginal and small-scale shrimp farmers, the cyclone has hit hard around 10,000 workers, who were directly dependent on the shrimp farms in the delta districts.According to a data with Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), Nagapattinam leads in L vannamei shrimp production across the state followed by Thanjavur and Tiruvarur. Farmers grow L vannamei and other breeds such as tiger shrimp in farms mostly near Thalainayar and Vedaranyam in Nagapattinam district, Muthupettai in Tiruvarur district, and Peravurani in Thanjavur district. While Gaja made the landfall near Vedaranyam and left a trail of destruction in Muthupettai and Peravurani localities, temporary sheds, motors, and equipment in the farms were devastated. “Shrimp farms in between Vedaranyam and Mallipattinam were decimated, approach roads have gone and we could not reach our farms till now. Farmers about to harvest the grown shrimps have suffered severe loss,” M K Sethuraman, president, Pamini River Shrimp Farmers Association said.Aerators, crucial equipment for supplying oxygen to shrimps were said to be missing from the farms, and in its absence, shrimps grown in farms will not survive. With 40% of the shrimp farms were in their second crop period (between August and November), sources said that the cyclone is all set to bring down the potential shrimp production of Tamil Nadu.

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