Freshwater prawn exporter in Bangladesh

Buy golda through Roptan, your freshwater prawn exporter in Bangladesh. Tell us the form, grade and quantity: we source from a verified plant, have the lot tested for residues, check sizes and defects, and ship it frozen.

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Prefer to deal with suppliers yourself? Post it on the requirement board

Buying freshwater prawn in Bangladesh

Freshwater prawn is Macrobrachium rosenbergii, golda chingri in Bangla, and with black tiger shrimp one of Bangladesh's two main farmed species. Its larvae need brackish water, then it lives entirely in fresh water, so it grows in south-west ponds: Bagerhat, Khulna, Satkhira and Jashore lead on 2019 district figures. Importers, caterers and restaurants buy it frozen, head-on or as tails.

A freshwater prawn exporter in Bangladesh has to handle a mixed crop: males outgrow females, and mature blue claw males carry much of their weight in claws. Roptan sources from verified plants, writes grading and defect limits into the order, has the lot tested and checks the cartons before the reefer is sealed.

Kinds of freshwater prawn

Head-on golda

The whole prawn, frozen as harvested and counted per unit weight with head and shell on. Choose it for curries and whole-prawn dishes; the large head and claws take a big share of the weight.

Headless golda (tails)

Head and claws removed, shell kept. Choose it for grilling and further processing, when you want to pay for tail meat only.

Blue claw males

Mature males whose second legs, which carry the large claws, may grow to twice the body length. A lot rich in blue claws usually gives less tail meat per kilogram.

Orange claw males, small males and females

Smaller and more even in shape. Males are the larger sex, so ask for grading by sex and stage as well as count, or one carton may hold very different prawns.

How to brief a freshwater prawn exporter in Bangladesh

Species: Ask for Macrobrachium rosenbergii by name on the offer, the contract and the label, since rules written for shrimp may not apply.
Form and grade: Head-on or tails, then the count with its unit, per pound or per kilogram, and whether grading is by sex and claw stage.
Visible defects: Set limits for broken antennae and rostrum, black gill and soft shell, the defects south-west prawn farms themselves report.
Glaze, phosphate and gel: Net weight without glaze, whether phosphate soaking is allowed, and a check for injected gel, a known fraud in prawns.
Sulphite: Agree whether it may be used at all, and which limit your importer applies to golda.
Residues and temperature: A residue panel naming chloramphenicol, nitrofuran metabolites and tetracycline at least, and a core temperature at loading usually of -18 °C or colder.

Rules and papers for golda shipments

FIQC health certificate: The export health certificate comes from the Fish Inspection and Quality Control offices, working under the Fish and Fish Products (Inspection and Quality Control) Act 2020 and its rules.
EU residue control plans: Food of animal origin shipped to the EU must come from a country running residue control plans for drugs, pesticides and contaminants, under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1644.
US seafood HACCP (21 CFR Part 123): The plant needs a written HACCP plan that the US importer verifies; prawns from a plant without that assurance can be refused entry.
US sulphite labelling (21 CFR 101.100): Sulphite at 10 mg/kg or more in the finished food must be declared, so the label has to match the lab result.

What moves the price of freshwater prawn

Hatchery seed: mass larval deaths since 2011 cut the number of active golda hatcheries, by 80 percent in one 2020 paper.
Plant demand: when plants, ice mills and depots closed in 2020, one study found golda farm prices fell further than black tiger prices.
Grade mix: price is quoted per grade, and a lot rich in blue claw males gives less tail meat per kilogram, so compare offers on one grade and sex mix.
Form: a tail price covers tail meat only, after the head and claws are removed, so it cannot be set against a head-on price per kilogram.
Testing and freight: per-lot residue tests and reefer freight add cost.

Lead times and delivery

No fixed lead time can be given for golda. Stock in a plant's cold store ships soonest; a lot packed to order waits for a harvest with the right grades, and hatchery seed problems can thin supply. Residue tests, carton artwork and reefer space at Chattogram add time. Roptan confirms the dates and the minimum order in the quote.

Inside Bangladesh, Roptan delivers frozen golda by refrigerated truck to hotels, restaurants and supermarkets, with a temperature record. You get a packing list by grade and lot, any lab reports ordered and a VAT invoice (Mushak 6.3). Cartons that arrive soft or short are recorded at the door and taken up with the seller.

Buying freshwater prawn for export

Golda for export is quoted FOB Chattogram in a reefer container, or CFR or CIF on request. The papers are the commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, FIQC health certificate, a certificate of origin or REX statement for EU GSP, and the lab reports for the lot. Official export figures do not separate golda from other frozen shrimp.

What we check for this order

Plant licence and HACCPThe plant's FIQC licence and HACCP plan, and its listing where your market approves plants.
Residue and sulphite reportAn accredited lab tests your lot, and we check the sulphite result against what the label will declare.
Grading by sex and stageWe open cartons to check that blue claw, orange claw and small males are graded as the order says.
Defects, weight and gelRandom cartons are deglazed and weighed, and prawns checked for broken rostrum, black gill, soft shell and injected gel.

Questions buyers ask

Is golda a shrimp or a prawn?

Golda is the giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, of the Palaemonidae family; black tiger shrimp is a penaeid. The difference matters on paper, because some limits are written for penaeid shrimp only.

Do EU sulphite limits for shrimp apply to golda?

Not automatically. The EU limits by count per kilogram usually quoted for shrimp cover penaeid families, and golda is a palaemonid. Ask your importer which limit applies to golda; we have the lot tested against it.

Why do golda in one lot vary so much in size?

Males grow larger than females, and mature males pass through three stages: small male, orange claw and blue claw. A blue claw male's claws may reach twice its body length. Without grading by sex and stage, one carton can mix very different prawns.

Is golda supply steady through the year?

Not always. Golda larvae need brackish water, and mass larval deaths in Bangladeshi hatcheries since 2011, which a 2020 paper linked to a newly found virus, cut the number of working hatcheries. Pond harvests follow the seed supply, so ask early for large lots.

How soon will I hear back about shrimp and fish?

Within 48 hours of a complete requirement, with a price and a delivery date. A requirement is complete when it has the quantity, where it is needed and by when.

Who do I deal with?

With Roptan, when Roptan manages the order: we buy from the verified seller and deliver to you. With the supplier directly, when you post on the requirement board and choose a quote yourself.