Canada Gets a Shrimp Farm

Poseidon Bio Aqua, Inc.

Poseidon Bio Aqua, Inc., of Taiwan, has received a license to farm shrimp in vacant greenhouses in Langley, British Columbia.  Penaeus vannamei postlarvae will be flown in from a certified seedstock producer in Hawaii, raised in a recirculating system and marketed fresh to consumers.

About $3 million is being invested to convert the greenhouses into a shrimp farm that will produce up to 40 metric tons of Penaeus vannamei a year.  The water will be treated on site and recycled, with little or no runoff.  In June 2007, the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture concluded that the operation poses a low risk to native species and their ecosystems.

The ministry’s support has prompted Poseidon president and CEO Gordon Tseng to ask that the plant be allowed to increase its production limit to 400 tons a year.  He plans to submit a request for the additional production to the ministry before the end of August 2007.  Tseng’s parent company already operates both open and closed-pen shrimp farm systems in Malaysia and closed facilities in Taiwan.

Construction at the Langley site is already under way.  By the time the farm opens in November 2007, it will employ 10 to 20 people.  If the ministry permits Poseidon to ramp up production to 400 tons per year, the site could employ as many as 100 by early next year, Tseng said.

Information: Gordon Tseng, CEO, Poseidon Bio Aqua, Inc., 6969 Halligan St., Burnaby, BC V5E 1R4 Canada.

Sources: 1. Kamloops This Week.  Langley’s next great export: Tropical shrimp—seriously (http://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=15&cat=23&id=1042107&more=0).  Tom Fletcher.  August 10, 2007.  2. The Chronicle.  Lottogate will haunt B.C. Libs (http://www.ladysmithchronicle.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=18&cat=48&id=1043649&more=0).  Tom Fletcher.  August 14, 2007.  3. The Province.  Langley-based closed-system shrimp farm gets green light (http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=80cdfbee-a105-41d9-83b7-2a9d594521f6).  Kate Webb (kwebb@png.canwest.com).  August 19, 2007.

Brine Shrimp Lead Secret Lives in the USA

All of us know that brine shrimp (Artemia) make a great feed for shrimp postlarvae and broodstock, but not everyone knows that brine shrimp lead secret lives in the United States—as toys, packaged as “Sea Monkeys” and sold as eggs (cysts) to kids who want to hatch and raise them.

In the following article from The Charleston Gazette (South Carolina), Terra Weiland explores her childhood attraction to Sea Monkeys.

“I can still vividly remember as a child walking into one of the myriad stores in the mall and discovering an awesome toy—a Sea Monkey starter kit.  I begged and pleaded for my mother to buy it and, of course, my cries succeeded.  Looking back, it seems kind of silly, but I can remember how much joy the tiny shrimp brought into my life.

About three months ago, I came across a simple, inexpensive starter kit that was almost an exact replica of the one I once had.  I decided to try raising the little guys again as an experiment.  I wanted to remember what was so great about them.

But why was I compelled to buy my first kit all those years ago?  The idea of sea monkeys sounds boring when you think about it.  They’re just white mushy things swimming around a little tank.  What’s so great about that?

Was it the packaging I fell for?  I’ve been a victim of the ‘terrible product in a pretty box’ syndrome before.  The cartoons of smiling humanlike creatures with crowns on their heads are as far from the actual teeny shrimp as you can get, but I believe that even as a third-grader I could think rationally enough to figure out that those were just imaginary.

Besides, I loved the kit even after I had it for weeks.  So if it’s not the packaging, what is the magic of sea monkeys?

Could it be that I just wanted to feel responsible and needed?  I can remember telling my sister after the purchase that ‘a small world is in the palm of my hand.’  I knew that without my care the sea monkeys would perish.

Sea monkeys are often called great starter pets because they teach young children how to care for animals, but I don’t think I really learned anything from these little guys.  And surely the feeling of responsibility I felt as a child must have been much higher than the one I felt for my new tank of sea monkeys, so could that really be my reason for loving this kit?

The more I thought about this riddle the more frustrated I became.  The answer finally came to me with the help of a friend.

As I was preparing for a month long summer trip, I asked her to care for my curious pets.  I watched as fascination spread across her face and questions about their care spilled from her lips.

I had my answer to the sea monkeys’ mysterious appeal: sea monkeys are weird, and weird is fascinating.

People love new things and experiences.  When I first got sea monkeys, it was a new experience.  I had never before seen them—or anything similar—swim about in peaceful, random zigzags.

I personally have a love of the strange, but I never considered sea monkeys as anything abnormal when I was growing up.  It’s sad now that I do question their charm and have become immune to their powerful hypnotic magic.”

Source: The Charleston Gazette.  The mysterious appeal of sea monkeys (http://sundaygazettemail.com/section/News/FlipSide/2007080328).  Terra Weiland.  August 4, 2007.

Country Reports

Brazil

Breeding Program

Aquatec, the leading shrimp hatchery in Brazil with about 20 percent of the market for Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) postlarvae, has maintained a pedigreed genetic improvement program since 1996.  Within a classical full-sib family structure relying on elastomer tagging of animals at sizes of 2-3 grams for family identification, 60 full-sib families were initially produced every year.

Since 2003, under the umbrella of a multinational company [SyAqua] involved in animal genetic improvement, six annual batches of 60 Penaeus vannamei families each were the result of increased breeding efforts focused on selection for growth and survival in commercial production environments.

In 2006, Acuatec discontinued its association with its parent company and created a new company, Genearch Aquacultura, to concentrate on the genetic improvement of specific pathogen-free (SPF) P. vannamei lines recently imported from the United States, the first SPF lines in Brazil.

A new genetic improvement center for preservation of the SPF status of these lines is near completion, and its genetic improvement program is starting.  Four SPF lines with different shrimp production characteristics were imported, and the selection process has involved a combination of family and within-family selection.

Since 2003, the Aquatec genetic improvement program has been characterized by family sizes of 350 shrimp, 200 of which are tested in the hatchery under strict biosecurity and 150 are tested in commercial ponds.  Broodstock replacements come exclusively from the animals held in the hatchery.  Family selection is based on a selection index comprising family genetic merit estimates for two traits: growth and survival in the hatchery and pond environments.  Within-family selection for growth is made exclusively in the hatchery environment.  Inbreeding is controlled through mating schemes and knowledge of the selected families’ pedigrees.

Genetic gains have been estimated through commercial performance comparisons between selected and control families reared side by side in the same ponds.  Results to date show growth improvements of 0.13 grams a week.

Source: The Global Aquaculture Advocate (http://www.gaalliance.org).  Editor, Darryl Jory (dejry2525@aol.com).  Genetic Improvement/Genetic Improvement in Brazil.  Joâo L. Rocha, Ph.D. (johnrocha@genearch.com.br), Ana Carolina Guerrelhas, B.S., and Ana Karina Teixeira, B.S. (Aquatec and Genearch Aquacultura, Lda., Barra de Cunhau, Rio Grande do Norte, CEP 59190, Brazil).  Volume 10, Issue 4, Page 40, July/August 2007.

Brunei

Government Help

Shrimp farmers believe the government will be able to help them lower their production costs by ensuring sufficient supplies of postlarvae for stocking ponds and by building a shrimp feed plant.  The Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources is seriously considering helping establish a local shrimp feed plant, said Mohamed Haniff Madaika, general manager of Semaun Seafood, Sdn., Bhd.

Brunei exports its Penaeus stylirostris [original stocks from New Caledonia] to developed nations like the USA, Japan and Korea.

Source: BruneiDirect.com.  Govt Help Vital For Prawn Exporters (http://www.brudirect.com/DailyInfo/News/Archive/Aug07/090807/nite35.htm).  Hadthiah P.D. Hazair.  August 9, 2007.

China

Bans All Seafood from Indonesia (see below)

On August 6, 2007, the Associated Press reported that China has banned all Indonesian seafood after checks turned up toxins, dangerous chemicals and pathogens in Indonesian seafood products.  Martani Huseini, a senior official at Indonesia’s Department of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, said the move appeared to be in retaliation to an Indonesian import ban imposed last month on Chinese food supplements, cosmetics and medicines.

Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service).  China bans Indonesia seafood citing toxins and disease causing pathogens.  Ken Coons (phone 781-861-1441, email kencoons@seafood.com).  Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com).  August 6, 2007.

Indonesia

Losing $5 Million a Month to China Ban

Jakarta...The Indonesian marine and fishery ministry estimates that the Chinese ban on Indonesian seafood imports might cost Indonesia around $5 million a month.

On August 9, 2007, Saut P. Hutagalung, head of the ministry’s data, statistic and information center said the import ban could significantly affect the Indonesian fishery industry.  “The worst impact will concern the image of Indonesian marine products throughout the world,” he said.

Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service).  Indonesia seafood exporters face loss of $5 million per month from Chinese import ban.  Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com).  August 9, 2007.

Indonesia

Plays Down Impact of China Ban

China’s decision to stop imports of Indonesian fishery products will have little impact on Indonesia.  Eddie Yudiono, the head of the Association of Indonesian Fishing Companies (Gappindo), said, “Exports to China amount to a small portion of the overall trade.”

Indonesian officials earlier estimated that such fishery exports to China, including Hong Kong, are worth about $150 million a year.  This is about 7 percent of Indonesia’s total fishery exports of $2.1 billion in 2006.

In 2006, the United States imported about 35 percent of Indonesia’s fishery exports, worth an estimated $700 million.

A check with a handful of companies in various locations across Indonesia—from Jakarta to Sulawesi—bore out Eddie’s cool reaction to China’s ban.  Chen Woo Fishery in Makassar, South Sulawesi, for example, said most of its exports were bound for the USA or European market.

Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service).  Indonesia’s fish exporters downplay importance of Chinese embargo.  Ken Coons (phone 781-861-1441, email kencoons@seafood.com).  Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com).  August 9, 2007.

Indonesia

Accepts European Union Monitors

The European Union has threatened to ban Indonesian fishery products because of antibiotics and other health hazards.  Consequently, Indonesia has agreed to continued monitoring by European Union officials.  Nazori Jazol, Indonesia’s standardization and accreditation director, said the monitoring would include shrimp ponds.

In his column in Fish Farming International, Charles Woodhouse, an attorney and principal in a shrimp farm in Mozambique, said: “In a surprise move, the EU has imposed a substantial surcharge on Indonesian fisheries products to pay for inspections and screening.”

Sources: 1. Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service).  EU agrees to Indonesia’s residue monitoring proposal.  Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com).  August 15, 2007.  2. Fish Farming International (http://www.fishfarminginternational.com).  Editor, Kenny McCaffrey (kenny.mccaffrey@informa.com).  Food imports user fees might be coming to US.  Charles Woodhouse.  Volume 34, Number 8, Page 8, August 2007.

Japan

Trade with Indonesia

Japan and Indonesia signed a bilateral free-trade agreement on August 20, 2007, that will take effect in early 2008.  By value, the agreement will eliminate tariffs on about 92 percent of the trade between the countries.

Japan will immediately remove tariffs on Indonesian shrimp.

Source: The Japan Times.  Japan, Indonesia to sign FTA, remove tariffs on 92% of trade (http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20070811a5.html).  August 11, 2007.

Japan

It Tastes Just Like Shrimp

What will astronauts eat when the time comes for them to live for extended periods on Mars?  How about silkworm cocoons, which, when powdered and processed, smell “so close to shrimp that there is no instinctive recoil.”

Source: Japanese researchers cook up Martian menu for astronauts (http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200708100103.html).  Shingo Fukushima.  August 10, 2007.

Thailand

Phuket—Farmers Selling Directly to Consumers

In support of shrimp farmers who have been suffering through a period of declining prices, the Phuket Internal Trade Office promotes shrimp consumption and opens market channels for local farmers.  Some-poj Sang-kha-pong, the office chief, said additional sales points had been established at a petrol station near the SuperCheap Store on Thepkrasatri Road, at the Phuket Commercial Affairs Office, at a large market in Wichit, and at the Makro wholesale store.  He said the new markets sold 700,000 kilograms of shrimp worth about $215,750.

Source: ThaisNews.  Phuket Internal Trade Office sums up its support for shrimp farmers (http://www.thaisnews.com/news_detail.php?newsid=214465).  August 10, 2007.

United States

Hawaii—Jim Wyban and High Health Aquaculture

In July and August 2007, Jim Wyban, Ph.D., President of High Health Aquaculture in Hawaii, a supplier of SPF broodstock, gave presentations in Indonesia and Vietnam on his lines of broodstock.  The following information is from the abstracts of those presentations.

High Health Aquaculture, Inc. (HHA), is a world leader in shrimp domestication and scientific breeding.  HHA initiated its breeding program to develop fast-growing, Taura-virus-resistant (TVR) Penaeus vannamei in 1997.  To date, ten generations of selection using a combination of family and within-family selection and line crossing has produced hybrid stocks that are both fast-growing and Taura-resistant.  Each new generation has shown steady improvement in survival when challenged with the Taura virus.  Our most advanced stock is called “GxTVR”^®.  GxTVR PL-12s grow to 25 grams in 15 weeks (105 days).  This stock is the leading stock of SPF shrimp in Thailand, and it has captured a significant share of the Indonesia market.

Twelve lines of HHA’s shrimp were subjected to laboratory-challenge at the University of Arizona using three strains of the Taura virus isolated from three locations: Hawaii, Belize and Thailand.  Mean survival of the 12 lines by each strain were: Hawaii, 95%; Thailand, 98%; and Belize, 88%—demonstrating that the GxTVR^® stock is resistant to all three strains.

In 1995, High Health Aquaculture established the world’s first certified pathogen free (SPF) Penaeus monodon.  To date, eight generations of selective breeding of this stock for fast growth and ease of reproduction have resulted in a very fast growing, highly fecund stock.  In 2004, new genetic material of SPF P. monodon from the Red Sea was incorporated into the breeding program.  In 2006, seventh generation SPF P. monodon broodstock were tested for reproductive performance in our new, state-of-the-art, shrimp breeding center in Kona, Hawaii.  Massive quantities of SPF nauplii and PLs were produced, demonstrating that HHA’s proprietary shrimp reproduction technology and domesticated SPF P. monodon stock can produce commercial quantities of fast-growing P. monodon PLs.

In 2007, HHA will begin breeding efforts to develop IMNV resistant stocks!

Information: James Wyban, Ph.D., High Health Aquaculture, Inc., P.O. Box 1095, Kurtistown, HI 96760 USA (phone 808-982-9163, fax 808-982-9163, email jim.wyban@gmail.com, webpages www.hihealthshrimp.com and www.spfgenetics.com).

Source: Email to Shrimp News International from Jim Wyban on August 13, 2007.  Attachments: Abstract/Breeding P. vannamei for fast growing and disease resistance (Indonesia Aquaculture Conference, July 2007, Bali, Indonesia); and Abstract/Domestication and Breeding SPF P. monodon (Asia-Pacific Aquaculture 2007, Hanoi, Vietnam, August 5-8, 2007).

United States

Missouri—Global Aquaculture Alliance

After successful site audits by the Aquaculture Certification Council, the following processing plants in Asia recently joined the Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) program as certified facilities:

Marine Gold Products, Ltd., Muang, Samutsakorn, Thailand, was certified on June 19, 2007.  It is a strategic expansion of the Ruxchai Group, which has been a significant player in the Thai seafood business for more than 20 years.  Marine Gold exports shrimp and other seafood products to the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China.

PT Bumi Menara Internusa received its third processing plant certification in mid-June 2007.  It now has three certified plants in East Java, two of them in Surabaya and one in Dampit Malang.

Allied Pacific Food (Dalian), Co., Ltd., in Dalian, Liao Ning, China, was certified on June 15, 2007.  The plant is part of the A.P. Group, a high-quality seafood processor and exporter with two large state-of-the-art processing plants with the capacity to produce over 20,000 tons of seafood annually.

Phuong Nam Company, Ltd., is a new BAP-certified plant in Soc Trang Province, Vietnam, with convenient access to both farm-raised and ocean-harvested seafood products.  It produces conventional block and value-added products.

Certified on June 11, 2007, Gropoint Fisheries, Sdn., Bhd., is part of G.P. Ocean Food, Sdn., Bhd., Malaysia’s first and largest fully integrated seafood producer.  Located in Labuan, Gropoint Fisheries is close to both air and sea ports.  Its processing and cooking plants generate an annual production of approximately 8,000 metric tons of processed seafood.

In late May 2007, Asia Aquaculture, Sdn., Bhd., was certified as complying with the BAP standards for shrimp-processing plants.  Located in Port Klang, Malaysia, Asia Aquaculture uses modern technology to process 15 metric tons a day of primarily white shrimp for export in various forms to the European Union, United States and Japan.

The Saota Foods Joint Stock Company plant in Soc Trang Province, Vietnam, was certified on May 21, 2007.

Global Aquaculture Association certification requires a site audit, effluent sampling, sanitary controls, therapeutic controls and a traceability system.  GAA certified products carry the BAP retail mark to inform consumers that their facilities adhere to the Best Aquaculture Practices.

Information: George Chamberlain, Ph.D., President, Global Aquaculture Alliance, 5661 Telegraph Road, Suite 3A, St. Louis, MO 63129 USA (phone 314-293-5500, fax 314-293-5525, email georgec@gaalliance.org, webpage www.gaalliance.org).

Information: William R. More, Aquaculture Certification Council, Inc., 12815 72nd Avenue NE, Kirkland, WA 98034 USA (phone 425-825-7935, fax 425-650-3001, cell 206-321-0795, email wrmore@comcast.net, website www.aquaculturecertification.org).

Source: The Global Aquaculture Advocate (http://www.gaalliance.org).  Editor, Darryl Jory (dejry2525@aol.com).  ACC Audits More Processing Plants for BAP Certification.  Volume 10, Issue 4, Page 23, July/August 2007.

United States

Washington, DC, Chinese Shrimp Slips Through

On August 7, 2007, the Associated Press reported: At least one million pounds of suspect Chinese seafood has landed on American store shelves and dinner plates despite a Food and Drug Administration order that the shipments first be screened for banned drugs and chemicals.

The frozen shrimp, catfish and eel arrived at USA ports under an “import alert”, which meant the FDA was supposed to hold every shipment until it had passed a laboratory test.  But that was not what happened, according to an Associated Press check of shipments since the fall of 2006.  One of every four shipments reviewed got through without being stopped and tested.  The seafood, valued at $2.5 million, was equal to the amount 66,000 Americans eat in a year.

“The system is outdated and it doesn’t work well.  They pretend it does, but it doesn’t,” said Carl Nielsen, who oversaw import inspections at the agency until he left in 2005 to start a consulting firm, FDAImports.com.  “You can’t make the assumption that these would be isolated instances, he said.”

Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York), a critic of the FDA’s food safety record, in reaction to the Associated Press findings, said, “The FDA itself admits that this seafood needs inspection, but then doesn’t have the capability to inspect it.  This is an example of government failure at its worst.”

FDA officials acknowledged that some shipments slip through import alerts, but said overall they work.  “Any time you introduce a human element into something, I don’t think you can necessarily guarantee 100 percent,” said Michael Chappell, the FDA official responsible for field inspections and labs.

Source: The Washington Post.  AP: Seafood From China Wasn’t Screened (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/07/AR2007080700974.html?hpid=sec-health).  Justin Pritchard and Adam Goldman.  August 7, 2007.

United States

Washington, DC—FDA Checks on Slip-Through of Chinese Shrimp

On August 8, 2007, the Food and Drug Administration said that it is checking whether shipments of Chinese seafood on a watch list were properly cleared for public consumption without being tested for banned drugs or chemicals.

Source: Daily News.com.  FDA checking if Chinese seafood properly screened Associated Press (http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_6577768).  August 9, 2007.

United States

Washington, DC—FDA Too Stretched to Guarantee Food Safety

John Sackton, editor and publisher of Seafood.com, an online, subscription-based, seafood report, comments on the slip-through of Chinese seafood imports:

FDA has about 450 budgeted positions for screening the imports that it oversees—approximately 20 million shipments of everything from fish to vegetables to pharmaceuticals.  Funding for inspectors has not kept pace with the surge in imports over the past decade and FDA employees have said they’re too stretched to guarantee food safety.

For its investigation, the Associated Press reviewed 4,300 seafood shipments from China and found 211 that arrived under an import alert between October 2006 and May 2007.  It was during that period the FDA was putting specific Chinese companies with seafood that had flunked lab tests on its watch list, leading up to a June announcement that all farm-raised shrimp, catfish and eel had to be inspected.

The Associated Press was able to reach importers that brought in 112 of the shipments,  It said that 28 of the 112 shipments had not been detained and tested.

 FDA did not verify the Associated Press’s numbers.

Agency officials said their initial research showed 19 shipments, from a list of more than 200 that the Associated Press provided, had arrived under an import alert and were flagged by FDA’s computer system, and then reviewed by a person who determined they didn’t need to be tested.  Agency officials said they needed to talk to local offices that processed the cargo to find out why those shipments, as well as four others, were allowed through.

The Associated Press gave the FDA its list weeks before it published its findings, but the agency did not comment on the specific shipments until after the AP story ran.

“We’re going to look into those further,” said Michael Chappell, the FDA official responsible for field inspections and labs.

“There is no evidence to say they were released...incorrectly,” said Domenic Veneziano, who oversees FDA’s import operations.

“The discovery that suspect seafood from China has reached dining room tables in America without being tested is disturbing,” said Representative John Dingell (D-Michigan), whose Energy and Commerce Committee has been investigating FDA’s record on food imports.  “Apparently, the ‘import alert’ system used by the FDA to test high risk foods cannot be trusted.”

Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service).  FDA investigating claims that Chinese seafood products were not screened.  Ken Coons (phone 781-861-1441, email kencoons@seafood.com).  Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com).  August 9, 2007.

Vietnam

Protests Australia’s Trade Rules

Australia plans to implement tough new regulations that will effectively stop all imports of raw shrimp.

Vietnam will join nine other ASEAN countries in a claim against Australia to be filed at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in October 2007, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP).

Besides the ASEAN countries, China and Taiwan have also rallied against the regulations, calling them nontariff trade barriers to protect its own shrimp industry.

Source: Vietnam Net Bridge.  Vietnam, ASEAN protest Australia’s tough import regulations (http://english.vietnamnet.vn/biz/2007/08/728425/).  August 10, 2007.

Vietnam

347 Processors Cleared

On August 8, 2007, Vietnam’s National Fisheries Quality Assurance and Veterinary Directorate (NAFIQAVED), which certifies Vietnam’s seafood exports, said 347 exporters had been qualified for shipments to Japan.

Vietnam tests all seafood exports to Japan to ensure that they are free of antibiotic residues and banned chemicals.  Inspections are also made at all seafood processing firms.  Firms failing to meet safety norms will not be allowed to export and could even be shut down.  The list will be updated once a month and sent to customs agencies in Japan.  Once an exporter passes ten checks by the Japanese, it will be exempt from Vietnam’s food hygiene tests.

In the first half of 2007, seafood exporters shipped 6,000 batches to Japan and 94 of them were found to contain banned antibiotics like AOZ (3-amino-2-oxazole), chloramphenicol and nitrofurans.

Japan has been testing all Vietnamese shrimp since 2006.

Japan has long been one of Vietnam’s major seafood customers, buying 27 percent of its seafood exports last year, second only to the USA.

Vietnamese seafood exports to major markets like Japan and the European Union have been declining since early 2007 because of the antibiotic problem.

The EU market last year made up 21.6 percent of Vietnam’s total fishery shipments of $3.31 billion, which translated into some $715 million.

For 2007, the Vietnamese seafood processing industry has set an export target of $3.6 billion.

Source: Thanhnien News.com.  Vietnam joins ASEAN in WTO suit against Australia shrimp ban (http://www.thanhniennews.com/business/?catid=2&newsid=30869).  Thanh Nien and Dong Ha.  August 10, 2007.