Thailand has experienced rapid growth in shrimp farming in response to dramatic increase in seafood demand and decline in natural fisheries due to pollution and over exploitation. It has developed rapidly into a thriving business in many countries and has provided more than 25% of world's annual shrimp market since 1990. In 1994, 733,000 metric tons of shrimp from 1,144,000 ha of ponds were produced in which tiger shrimp (Penaeas monodon) was most dominant species comprising about 61% of total shrimp production.