Christmas is the most grand holiday of the year in western countries ~
Just like every family like to add some big fish and meat during the Spring Festival, Australians' Christmas can be said to be "no shrimp and no pleasure" ~
But the price of this Christmas shrimp feast is likely to be as expensive as ever.
Tiger prawn and king prawn, the two more popular prawns in the Australian market, are expected to rise in price.
The price is expected to double directly from last year to $50 a kilogram!
The Sydney market is currently trading at $45 a kilogram of tiger prawn, up $15. 5% from last year.
Claudio's Seafoods's seafood wholesaler, Andy Widjaja, says prices will get higher as Christmas approaches.
"almost doubled from the same time period last year."
"the decline in Tiger prawn production was due to this year's floods, and shrimp imports were banned because of the use of certain chemicals."
"so I expect Christmas prices to rise to around $52 a kilo this year. Because shrimps are really small, it looks like it's probably the smallest year in 30 years. "
In addition, in Kunzhou and Victoria, the same is true.
Marshall Betzel, director of the Kunzhou Seafood Market Association, says shrimp populations across Australia are tight at this stage. The reason is the increase in demand in the Chinese market and the impact of some import restrictions.
For families who are used to eating prawns at Christmas dinners, he thinks, they can buy some in the freezer ahead of time to avoid fewer shrimp stocks that can't be bought or prices that go up too high.
Johnathon Davey, executive director of the state seafood industry, also recommends that customers be prepared ahead of time.
"the seafood industry as a whole faces challenges in terms of supply, and production is much lower than in the same period last year."
During Christmas, New year and Spring Festival last year, Australia's shrimp seafood market suffered from an outbreak of white spot disease, a devastating epidemic that led to a direct loss of $25 million for shrimp farms in Kunzhou.
During the peak period, the price of large tiger prawn and king prawn reached $35 kg.
In February, federal agriculture secretary Barnaby Joyce announced a ban on shrimp imports after the highly contagious white spot disease began to appear in six shrimp farms in Kunzhou. Because they believe Australia's shrimp infection is due to the use of imported green frozen shrimp as bait.
Easter shrimp retail prices soared in April as a result of the outbreak of white spot disease. Even some restaurants display signs reminding guests of shrimp prices.
The news was no doubt a bolt from the blue for shrimp lovers.
Whether to eat or not to eat seems to be another question worth thinking about.