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Australia Terminates Imports of Raw Shrimp
The Australian Government has decided to implement new quarantine regulations on imported shrimp that will prevent all imports of raw shrimp! The regulations ban imports of raw shrimp from countries that harbor shrimp diseases. Imports of highly processed shrimp will be allowed—namely battered, marinated and cooked shrimp.
Biosecurity Australia, the arm of the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry that provides science-based quarantine assessments and policy advice to protect the agricultural industry, says its strict measures are aimed at keeping shrimp diseases out of Australia’s fisheries and off its farms. Its decision will be reviewed by a group of independent, eminent scientists and then be open to appeal. The new measures are expected to be in place by September 2007.
Australia’s shrimp fishermen and farmers are happy with the decision because the prices they receive for their shrimp are bound to increase, but importers are angry, and several countries that supply Australia with shrimp are planning to challenge the new measures at the World Trade Organization.
Senator Eric Abetz, Australia’s Fisheries Minister, says the new measures were not to satisfy shrimp farmers or shrimp fisherman, nor were they designed to upset shrimp importers. They were designed to keep shrimp diseases out of Australia. Abetz says the decision will rise or fall on the robustness of the science on which it was made. Biosecurity Australia is satisfied that the scientific basis of the decision is sufficiently robust to pass any assessment. Abetz said: “Biosecurity Australia has assessed that new measures are required to protect Australia’s shrimp stocks from the risk of disease being introduced. ...Australia takes a science-based and conservative approach to quarantine risk. ...These stronger quarantine measures reflect this approach and follow the release of a draft import risk analysis late last year by Biosecurity Australia and the consideration of over 50 submissions received in response to that draft. ...The new quarantine measures are being put in place while work continues to finalize this import risk analysis.”
Scott Walter, a spokesman for the Australian Prawn [shrimp] Farming Association, believes that the scientific evidence warrants a ban on raw shrimp imports. Walker said: “There is a heavy amount of science out there. I know that there’s been a bit of an uproar recently, sort of countering that, but it’s strong, the science is very, very strong and that’s why Biosecurity Australia has obviously reached this decision. You know, they haven’t reached it lightly, its something we’ve been pushing quite hard for, for a long time, and we’re very pleased that...the science has finally won out. Government testing of imported raw shrimp late last year found 100 percent were carrying exotic diseases.”
George Kailis, the Vice President of Australian Seafood Importers Association, says the decision has not been well received, particularly in Asia, which supplies most of Australia’s raw shrimp. “We’ve been advised by various countries that they have reported Australia to the WTO....” Kailis says Australia’s suppliers will force the Government to defend the reasons behind its decision.
“We’re getting screwed politically,” said Harry Peters, chairman of the Australian Seafood Importers Association. The group’s 40 members handle about 80% of seafood imports from nations including China, Thailand, Vietnam and Norway. The importers claim that if more onerous tests for diseases that infect shrimp are required, China, Vietnam and Thailand will pursue the case with the World Trade Organization. “They’ve already discussed this with the WTO in Geneva last month,” said Peters. He said the new tests were unreliable and would cause safe shipments to be rejected. “No importer can afford to bear the loss of a $250,000 shipment,” he said. “This is nothing but political bastardry. ...Nowhere in the world at any time in the last 100 years has a disease been transferred to living shrimp by dead shrimp,” he added.
Sources: 1. ABC.net.au. Importers vow to fight prawn ban (http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2007/s1987229.htm). Mark Colvin and Matt Brown. July 24, 2007. 2. Herald Sun. Government gets tough on foreign prawns (http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22127409-5005961,00.html). July 24, 2007. 3. FishUpdate.com. Australia: Prawn quarantine measures strengthened (http://www.fishupdate.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/8152/Australia:_Prawn_quarantine_
measures_strengthened.html). July 24, 2007. 4. Food Week Online. Tough prawn import restrictions defended (http://www.foodweek.com.au/main-features-page.aspx?articleType=ArticleView&articleId=531). July 25, 2007.
Rubicon Resources, Wal-Mart and the Global Aquaculture Alliance
In the past two years, Rubicon Resources, LLC, the leading importer of seafood and seafood-related products in North America and a supplier of farmed shrimp to Wal-Mart, has purchased and upgraded roughly 150 shrimp farms in Thailand. Rubicon is registered with The Aquaculture Certification Council’s Registered Buyers Program as a company that supports sustainable shrimp farming and responsible processing, and it plans to meet a year-end deadline that requires it to adhere to environmental and social standards backed by Wal-Mart, Red Lobster and other big buyers.
The Wall Street Journal reports: An estimated 80% of Thai shrimp farms—most of them small operations run by families living on-site—either lack the resources to make necessary upgrades or balk at the certification fees as costs they likely won’t recover. That widens the gap between the haves and have-nots in Thai shrimp farming, providing a greater advantage to large, well-capitalized suppliers like Rubicon.
The changes afoot in the Thai shrimp ponds reflect the world-spanning, industry-rattling reach of Wal-Mart’s push for environmental sustainability. The Bentonville, Arkansas, USA, retailer has prodded its suppliers to cut their packaging and pare their reliance on nonrenewable fuels.
Wal-Mart first threw its weight behind the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s shrimp farming standards in 2005, announcing that by the end of 2007 it would buy all its shrimp from farms certified as meeting the standards.
Wal-Mart buys more shrimp than any other USA company, 20,000 tons annually—about 3.4% of all USA shrimp imports. With Wal-Mart’s nod, “We went from trying to convince individual facilities to become certified to having long waiting lines,” says George Chamberlain, president of the Global Aquaculture Alliance.
Many small farmers in Thailand have ignored the Alliance’s standards because they duplicate those already established by the Thai Department of Fisheries’ Code of Conduct for aquaculture farms as well as standards imposed by European buyers. And some Thai farmers see little benefit in paying inspection fees—amounting to a fraction of a penny per pound of shrimp produced—or upgrading facilities where necessary because Wal-Mart won’t reimburse them for their costs nor pay a premium for certified shrimp. Wal-Mart views those costs as the industry’s responsibility.
“It duplicates the procedure, and it doubles the expense,” says Pinyo Kiatpinyo, president of Thailand’s Network of Shrimp Farmer Cooperatives, which comprises 2,000 small farmers nationwide.
Others see the standards fueling a continuing consolidation of the industry. Wal-Mart prefers to buy from fewer, stronger suppliers with control over all phases of production. Rubicon, for example, owns 14 seafood processing plants, roughly 150 farms, plus its importing and exporting operations. “Short term, [the costs of meeting the standards] are onerous,” says Brian Wynn, Rubicon’s president and chief executive. “Long term, they are beneficial because they set up barriers to entry to nonintegrated companies.”
In the past two years, Rubicon spent more than $2 million amassing its portfolio of Thai farms and improving their operations to meet certification standards. “We have buffer canals, water treatment processes, mangrove conservation, and [we] take care of public canals around our farms,” says Chana Tanglertpanya, president of Rubicon’s aquaculture division in Thailand. “We also make good relations with the local villagers.”
Wal-Mart says it doesn’t foresee needing to shift some of its shrimp buying out of Thailand because of farms failing to meet the standards, but it can if it must. “Proactive suppliers and farmers will see this opportunity and respond” by complying with the standards, said Peter Redmond, Wal-Mart’s vice president of seafood and deli. “The rest of the [Thai production] will sell on the open marketplace, the same way it always has.”
Meanwhile, some environmental groups criticize the aquaculture alliance’s standards as too weak, alleging they stop short of significant environmental safeguards to instead allow producers a lower hurdle for gaining compliance. The World Wildlife Fund is overseeing the drafting of environmental standards for aquaculture production of 11 species in the hope that Wal-Mart will either adopt them or prod the aquaculture alliance to match them.
Information: Brian Wynn, President and Chief Executive, Rubicon Resources, LLC, 5730 Uplander Way, Suite 200, Culver City, CA 90230 USA (phone 310-887-3883, fax 310-278-7203, emails info@rubiconresources.com and feedback@rubiconresources.com, webpage
http://www.rubiconresources.com/index.html).
Information: Bill More, Aquaculture Certification Council, Inc., 12815 72nd Avenue, Northeast, Kirkland, WA 98034 USA (phone 425-825-8634, fax 425-671-0146, email wrmore@comcast.net, webpage http://www.aquaculturecertification.org).
Information: Dr. George Chamberlain, Global Aquaculture Alliance, LLC, 5661 Telegraph Road, Suite 3A, Saint Louis, MO 63129 USA (phone 314-293-5500, fax 314-293-5525, email georgec@integra.prserv.net, webpage http://www.gaalliance.org).
Sources: 1. The Wall Street Journal. The New Wal-Mart Effect: Cleaner Thai Shrimp Farms (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118523019620675464.html?mod=googlenews_wsj). Kris Hudson (kris.hudson@wsj.com), James Hookway and Wilawan Watcharasakwet. July 24, 2007. 2. Rubicon Resources’ webpage (above) on July 26, 2007. 3. Aquaculture Certification Council’s webpage (above) on July 28, 2007.
Country Reports
China
Vannamei Prices Drop After Detention
In China, because of the detention of its shrimp in the United States, Penaeus vannamei prices fell 16% in early July 2007.
Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service). China vannamei shrimp prices fall 16% in past two weeks, Thailand prices increasing due to US import. Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com). July 23, 2007.
China
Carrefour
To cut costs and to give it a bigger role in quality control, Carrefour, SA, Europe’s largest retailer, has begun buying shrimp directly from Chinese shrimp farmers.
Paris-based Carrefour opened its first China direct procurement center in Shanghai during the week of July 15-21, 2007, and plans to set up additional centers in Beijing, Guangzhou and other cities. Direct procurement enables Carrefour to bypass wholesalers, reduce costs and give farmers a secure outlet for their produce.
Carrefour sent inspectors to examine the water quality at Shanghai Shatian Lake Ecological Breeding Base before signing a one-year agreement in mid-July 2007 on the supply of shrimp—its first direct procurement contract in the China. Carrefour said it would monitor the entire farming procedure and would test water and feed to ensure the quality of the shrimp.
Carrefour, the world’s second-biggest retailer after Wal-Mart, opened its 100th Chinese superstore earlier this month and plans to open 20 to 25 stores a year in China, the world’s fastest-growing consumer market.
Source: Reuters. Carrefour China stores to procure from local farms (http://www.reuters.com/article/consumerproducts-SP/idUSPEK22003220070724). Samuel Shen (phone +86-21-6104-1789, email samuel.shen.reuters.com@reuters.com). Editing by Edmund Klamann. July 24, 2007.
Thailand
Follow That Shrimp
Chanthaburi Frozen Food Company, Ltd., and Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company, Ltd., agro-industrial conglomerates in Thailand, are working on a project to implement a RFID (radio frequency identification) traceability system for farmed shrimp.
Three other companies are part of the project: IE Technology, IBM Thailand and the FXA Group. IE Technology will implement the RFID systems, IBM will work on the software that enables the RFID system to communicate with the database, and the FXA Group is developing software to manage the flow of the RFID information. The project is being subsidized by some funding from the National Innovation Agency.
Ronarit Prachet, assistant plant manager at Chanthaburi Frozen Food, said the high volume of production, around 50 to 60 tons per day, and the complexities of its product line drove the company to implement the RFID technology. “At the end of the production process, the barcode number on every package of our finished products can be used for tracking. I know immediately where the shrimp came from, which farm and when,” said Ronarit. The company can also use the data to monitor the plant’s yield and employees’ productivity.
Sources: 1. Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service). Chanthaburi Frozen Food and CP Frozen Food adopting RFID tags for traceable shrimp exports. Ken Coons (phone 781-861-1441, email kencoons@seafood.com). Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com). July 11, 2007. 2. The Nation (website of a Thai multimedia company). FOOD TRACEABILITY: Shrimp tracked from farm to table (http://nationmultimedia.com/2005/10/31/byteline/index.php?news=byteline_19018688.html). Suchalee Pongprasert (suchalee@nationgroup.com). October 31, 2005. 3. Bob Rosenberry. Shrimp News International. July 25, 2007.
Thailand
Production Statistics
Thailand’s shrimp production is forecast at about 530,000 metric tons in 2007, about the same as in 2006. Thailand is the world’s largest shrimp producer, with exports of 338,410 tons in 2006, worth $2,842,870,861!
Source: GROWfish (Gippsland Aquaculture Industry Network, Inc., http://www.growfish.com.au/default.asp). GROWfish eNewsletter (subscribehtml@growfish.com.au). Shrimp business faces woes on three fronts (http://www.growfish.com.au/content.asp?contentid=9716). July 22, 2007.
Thailand
Weak Dollar, Strong Baht
President Poj Aramwattananont, president of the Thai Frozen Foods Association, said shrimp is one of the world’s toughest industries. If the baht continues to strengthen and hurt traders, the whole cluster—including exporters, hatcheries, shrimp farmers and feed manufacturers—will be forced to close down soon, he said.
Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service). Strong Baht hurting Thailand shrimp industry says Thai Frozen Foods Assoc. Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com). July 23, 2007.
United States
California—Shrimp News Makes Some Changes
Hi, Shrimp News lost money in 2006—the first time in thirty years—so I’ve decided to make some changes. I’ve dropped the annual report on world shrimp farming and started selling classified advertisements at the bottom of the Free News page, the most popular destination at the Shrimp News website.
The Free News page will be expanded and the amount of information on the Free Reports page will be increased tenfold.
In July 2007, 21,215 people visited the Shrimp News webpage, more than 5,000 a week, up more than 100% from July 2006.
Information: Bob Rosenberry, Shrimp News International, 10845 Scripps Ranch Boulevard, #4, San Diego, California 92131 USA (phone 858-880-2580, fax 858-880-2580, email bob@shrimpnews.com, webpage http://www.shrimpnews.com). July 28, 2007.
United States
Georgia—Job
Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, Georgia, is looking for an aquaculturist with experience in warmwater fish, freshwater prawns and shrimp.
• Salary: Commensurate with qualifications and experience
• Closing Date: Saturday, September 15, 2007
• Qualifications: B.A. or B.S. in Aquaculture, Fisheries or a closely related field.
Send your application, resume, official transcripts and three letters of recommendation to: Mr. Dwayne Crew, Director, Office of Human Resources, Fort Valley State University, 1005 State University Drive, Fort Valley, GA 31030-4313 USA.
Information: Pat Duncan (phone: 478-825-6575, email: duncanp@fvsu.edu).
Source: AquaNic (The Aquaculture Network Information Center, a gateway to the world’s electronic aquaculture resources, http://aquanic.org/index.htm). Jobs Directory (http://www.aquanic.org/Text/job_serv.htm)/In cooperation with the WAS Employment Service. Search jobs (http://aquanic.org/jobs/search.asp). Research Technician-Aquaculture (http://aquanic.org/jobs/jobinfo.asp?jobid=2499). Date Posted: July 23, 2007.
United States
Louisiana—Job, Freshwater Prawns
Dr. Raymond T. Bauer, Professor of Biology, Department of Biology, University of Louisiana, is looking for a doctoral student:
I am looking for a good doctoral student who would be interested in participating in a funded project on river prawn (Macrobrachium ohione) migrations in the Atchafalaya and Mississippi Rivers beginning immediately or in the fall of 2008. The student should be comfortable with doing fieldwork. A student can be funded as a research assistant (and participant) in the project as early as the summer of 2008. Before that time, there is a teaching assistantship available to fund the student in the fall 2007 and spring 2008 semesters, but that position has to be filled by September 3, 2007. Information: Dr. Raymond T. Bauer, Professor of Biology, Department of Biology, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA 70504-2451 USA (phone 337-482-6435, fax 337-482-5834, email rtbauer@louisiana.edu, website http://www.louisiana.edu/~rtb6933).
Sources: 1. The Crust-L Mailing list (To subscribe, send an email to LISTPROC@VIMS.EDU. In the body of the email, put SUBSCRIBE CRUST-L). Subject: [CRUST-L:2893] doctoral student for river shrimp project. From: rtb6933@louisiana.edu. July 23, 2007. 2. Email to Shrimp News International. From: Dr. Ray Bauer. Subject: RE:From Shrimp News = River Shrimp? July 26, 2007.
United States
Texas—Shrimp Farming Short Course
The 22nd Annual Texas Shrimp Farming Short Course, a five-day course on the latest shrimp farming techniques, will be held in September 2007, at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas, Texas. Cost: $300. Participants are responsible for arranging their own meals and housing. First come, first served.
The course will be taught by internationally experienced instructors with commercial, research and extension backgrounds. It will include the following topics:
Pond design and construction
Hatchery design
Maturation and spawning technology
Larval rearing
Nursery techniques
Management alternatives for growout
Inland shrimp farming
Diseases
Processing
Marketing
Shrimp nutrition
Partial harvests
Economics and feasibility analysis
The morning sessions will last from 8:30 a.m. until noon, with ample time for questions and individual attention. There will also be some afternoon lectures when the group is not traveling. Field trips to a commercial processing plant and shrimp farm will provide additional opportunities for hands-on learning.
For More Information: http://texas-sea-grant.tamu.edu/short_course.php.
Information: Granvil Treece, Texas Sea Grant College Program Office, 2700 Earl Rudder Freeway South, Suite 1800, College Station, TX 77845 USA (phone 979-845-7527, fax 979-845-7525, email g-treece@neo.tamu.edu).
Source: Texas Sea Grant Webpage. 22nd Annual Texas Shrimp Farming Short Course (http://texas-sea-grant.tamu.edu/short_course.php). Site visit on May 25, 2007.
Vietnam
Shrimp Die Off
Hundreds of shrimp and crab farms along the Bac Lieu Sea in the Mekong Delta are facing high mortalities. Ngo Ba Bac, head of Bien Bac Cooperative in Bac Lieu, said if they continued, there wouldn’t be any animals left for harvest. According to an initial investigation, the cause is sewage discharged by water treatment companies.
Source: GROWfish (Gippsland Aquaculture Industry Network, Inc., http://www.growfish.com.au/default.asp). GROWfish eNewsletter (subscribehtml@growfish.com.au). Water animals die en masse (http://www.growfish.com.au/content.asp?ContentId=9726). July 23, 2007.
Classified Advertisements Shrimp News International: Hi, I just started selling classified advertisements that will appear right here, at the bottom of the Free News page. A one-week ad sells for $60, a four-week ad sells for $120, a 24-week ad sells for $600, and 48-week ad sells for $1,000. Click here for information on how to place an ad. Thanks, Bob Rosenberry (phone 858-880-2580, fax 858-880-258,email bob@shrimpnews.com, webpage http://www.shrimpnews.com.) |
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