Farm-Raised, "Organic" Shrimp
from Honduras and Ecuador

Blue Horizon Sells It to Whole Foods and Wild Oats in the USA

As consumer demand for organic foods soars in the United States, Whole Foods and Wild Oats, natural food retailers that recently announced plans to merge, are among the first retailers in state of Colorado to carry Blue Horizon’s organic Shrimp Skillet Meals, one-step meals featuring Naturland-certified organically grown shrimp from Honduras and Ecuador.  Cooked on the stovetop, the one-step meals take less than ten minutes to prepare.  Each meal feeds two people and carries a suggested retail price of $9.99.

“This is the future of seafood and we’re leading it,” said John Battendieri, Blue Horizon’s chief executive officer and founder.  “Sustainable practices, such as strict organic shrimp farming, are intended to make our products the healthiest, safest choice in seafood, one that ensures the well being of our rivers and oceans, and their future fish stocks.”

Battendieri and Tim Redmond, the company principals, are best known for building numerous natural and organic food brands, such as Santa Cruz Organics and Eden Foods, originator of Edensoy Soymilk.

In Ecuador, Blue Horizon’s organic shrimp farms are located along the pristine coastal waters of the central coast [Bahia de Caraquez], away from the industrial discharges and agricultural runoff around the Gulf of Guayaquil.

Blue Horizon only partners with sustainable seafood farms and fisheries that comply with conservation policies and that help provide a model by using no growth hormones, antibiotics, or artificial colorings.  This model factors in water quality, density of populations and the type of feed.  Sustainable practices are intended to make farmed organic shrimp the healthiest, safest choice in seafood.

Since getting started in 2005, Blue Horizon has actively used a set of preliminary United States Department of Agriculture certification standards for organic seafood that address feeds, wastes, water quality and processing.  Blue Horizon is working with the USDA, its advisory boards and working groups on the development of the final organic standards, expected to become law by late 2008.

Is it Okay to Market “Organic” Shrimp in the USA
Ahead of the USDA Organic Standards?

In a letter to Seafood.com, George Lockwood, chair of the Aquaculture Working Group on the USDA’s National Organic Program, a past president of the World Aquaculture Society and a thirty-year advocate of responsible aquaculture in the United States, said:

“Until the Final Rule includes assertive regulations (or standards) for aquaculture, it is my understanding that the USDA cannot prohibit others from making organic claims as long as they do not use the USDA label.  In the case of Blue Horizon, I understand that its shrimp is certified by Naturland to foreign standards, and therefore they can make an organic claim in the USA. Even domestic aquaculture production can make an organic claim with some other label until the USDA officially establishes standards for organic aquaculture.”

“You are correct that California has proscribed organic claims for seafood until USDA establishes standards for aquaculture.  I believe that it is a weak law that should be challenged in court, but nevertheless for the time being it is the law here.”

Information: George Lockwood (phone 831-659-4145, email gslockcvca@aol.com), chair of the Aquaculture Working Group of the USDA’s National Organic Program.

Information: Naturland (www.naturland.de), the organization that certified Blue Horizon’s shrimp farms, requires adherence to strict European standards on organic aquaculture.

Information: United States Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Standards Board (http://www.ams.usda.gov/nosb).

Information: John Battendieri, Tim Redmond, Jaap Langenberg (phone 510-295-9880, email jaapl@bluehorizonseafood.com) and Nicole Pietromonaco (phone 206-838-8977, email nicolep@tamarawilson.com), Blue Horizon Organic Seafood Co., Inc., Aptos, CA 95003 USA (phone 831-685-1648, fax 831-685-3216, webpage http://www.bluehorizonseafood.com).

Sources: 1. Businesswire.com.  Blue Horizon Organic Seafood Entrees Hit Natural Supermarket Freezers (http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070821006047&newsLang=en).  August 21, 2007.  2. Blue Horizon’s webpage on August 24, 2007.  3. Diamond Organics’ webpage (http://www.diamondorganics.com) on August 26, 2007. 4. Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service).  Letter: re use of ‘organic’ label on seafood: it is currently allowed.  Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com).  August 23, 2007.

Country Reports

Australia

Breeding Program

In Australia, molecular screening of wild shrimp stocks has revealed the presence of two viruses: Gill-Associated Virus (GAV) and Mourilyan Virus (MOV).  GAV, closely related to the yellowhead virus, primarily infects the giant tiger prawn, Penaeus monodon, while MOV has been found in P. monodon, P. japonicus and P. merguiensis.

At the current stage of domestication with P. monodon and P. japonicus broodstock, shrimp reared in biosecure, controlled environment systems have generally been at much less risk to these viruses than shrimp sourced from farm ponds.  In contrast, pond-reared stocks of P. merguiensis have successfully provided commercially viable broodstock for several years.

It is extremely difficult to keep P. japonicus from farm ponds alive while they are being reared for broodstock.  To assess the potential involvement of MOV in these difficulties, the prevalence and infection loads of shrimp reared in tanks were compared to sibling stocks reared in earthen farm ponds for six months.

Molecular screening detected no MOV in any of the batches of 20-day-old postlarvae sampled when the tanks and ponds were stocked.  After six months rearing at the start of the maturation phase, MOV remained undetectable in the tank-reared shrimp, but was found in all batches of pond-reared siblings.

After two months in the maturation tanks, overall survival of stocks reared only in tanks remained relatively high at 76%.  Although MOV was detected in some batches, viral loads were low.  In contrast, survival of the siblings originally sourced from farm ponds was just 11%, and MOV loads were high.

Molecular screening is used to locate wild stocks of P. monodon that are free of GAV and other viruses.  Moving these wild stocks to commercial and research facilities in a region where GAV was endemic resulted in them acquiring GAV during the initial stage of domestication.  Moderate levels of GAV persisted in these breeding lines over successive generations, but when shrimp were reared to broodstock in controlled tanks or raceways, the virus, although passed on to seedstock, did not impaired the seedstock’s growth, survival, reproductive output, or growout performance in commercial ponds.

Determining the precise location of viruses in shrimp tissues or organs is important in understanding how infection progresses to disease.  Recent research at the Australian Institute of Marine Science demonstrated the effectiveness of histology in combination with fluorescent in situ hybridization in locating virus particles in shrimp tissues.

Identifying viral modes of transmission could aid in identifying whether egg washing, with or without virucidal compounds, is an effective means of abrogating the vertical transmission of virus to progeny.  Egg washing can only be effective if the virus particles responsible for progeny infection are external to the gametes, for example, in the spermatophore, seminal fluid, or ovarian fluids.

To date, there has been no indication of viral infection occurring within eggs either prior to or immediately after spawning.  If this finding can be substantiated, washing of newly spawned eggs with common virucidal agents could be effective in reducing or eliminating virus infections.

See www.oie.int/eng/normes/fmanual/A_00014.htm for the recommendations of the OlE International Aquatic Health Code for information on washing the eggs of penaeid shrimp.

Tank systems have now been refined to obtain 200% higher growth rates for domesticated P. monodon females at 11 months of age than those achieved in rearing trials in 1997 and 2000.

The incremental improvement of P. monodon broodstock diets has also led to gains in the reproductive output of domesticated stocks.  These maturation diets rely on essential nutrients derived from a variety of natural food organisms, including squid, polychaetes, bivalves, crustaceans and fish.  The reproductive output achieved with captive-reared P. monodon broodstock remains generally inferior to that of wild broodstock maintained in the same rearing environments and fed the same diets.

Source: The Global Aquaculture Advocate (http://www.gaalliance.org).  Editor, Darryl Jory (dejry2525@aol.com).  Genetic Improvement/Shrimp Breeding/Knowledge of Biological Requirements Critical to Successful Broodstock Rearing.  Dr. Nigel Preston (nigel.preston@csiro.au), Dr. Greg Coman and Dr. Jeff Cowley (CSIRO Food Futures Flagship, P.0. Box 120, Cleveland, Queensland 4163 Australia).  Volume 10, Issue 4, Page 32, July/August 2007.

Australia

Dr. Matthew Briggs

Speaking at the 2007 Ridley Aquafeed Australian Prawn and Barramundi Conference (July 2007), Dr. Matt Briggs, a shrimp farming consultant, said:

• In China, Penaeus vannamei is burdened by an ever-increasing number of exotic diseases that spread to other penaeids.

• In Thailand, the Taura virus appears in 70 percent of wild P. monodon broodstock, and the whitespot virus appears in 63 percent of wild P. monodon broodstock.

• P. monodon slow growth syndrome virus affects the species throughout Asia, and it’s being carried by P. vannamei.

• In 2005, infectious myonecrosis virus (IMNV) spread from Brazil to Indonesia, and then to China and Thailand in 2007.

Source: FisheNews (an email supplement to Austasia Aquaculture magazine, www.austasiaaquaculture.com.au).  Editor, Tim Walker (austasiaaquaculture@netspace.net.au).  Prawns/Diseases in Asian Prawns Discussed.  August 17, 2007.

Australia

New Rules

Coral Sea Farm’s Francois Naude has advised the Federal Government that restricting raw shrimp imports is unlikely to result in increased demand for shrimp produced in Australia—and could possibly lead to an increase in the importation of cooked shrimp, which could lower the price that domestic shrimp fishermen receive for their product.  He points out that the new regulations prevent Australian farmers from selling uncooked shrimp as bait, but don’t prevent shrimp fishermen from doing it.  He’d like to see country of origin labeling that would offer consumers the opportunity of choosing between domestically produced and imported product.

Source: FisheNews (an email supplement to Austasia Aquaculture magazine, www.austasiaaquaculture.com.au).  Editor, Tim Walker (austasiaaquaculture@netspace.net.au).  Prawns/Imported Prawn Restrictions Won’t Boost Homegrown Variety, Could Be Great Cost.  August 17, 2007.

Australia

Risk Report on New Rules

Food Standards Australia (FSA) says it will take several weeks to complete a risk report on the banned antibiotics found in imported seafood.  Lydia Buchtmann from FSA says scientists are now assessing the safety implications of the data.

Federal Fisheries Minister Peter McGauran announced testing for three more classes of antibiotics after a spot survey detected low levels of the medicines in fish and seafood imports.  “Our job is looking to the toxicity of these chemicals; the more complex antibiotic resistance is for the National Medical Research Council,” he said.  “In the past we’ve found...very low levels of antibiotics.”

Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service).  Australia sets review of antibiotics in seafood imports.  Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com).  August 17, 2007.

Bangladesh

Sundarbans

Two hundred thousand shrimp fry collectors work the rivers and creeks of the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world.

Source: The Daily Star.  Environment/Promoting eco-tourism in the Sundarbans (http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=322).  Mohammad Asrafur Rahman.  August 18, 2007.

Brunei

Dr. Donald Lightner

When asked for his opinions on the International Shrimp Health Workshop (August 2007), Dr. Donald Lightner, a shrimp disease expert from the University of Arizona (USA) and the main lecturer at the workshop, said: “Brunei is a small country, and I feel selling broodstock is the best opportunity for it to contribute to the shrimp industry...rather than to compete [in the food market] with countries such as Thailand and China.”

Source: BruneiDirect.com.  Shrimp Workshop Nets Admirers (http://www.brudirect.com/DailyInfo/News/Archive/Aug07/160807/nite04.htm).  Zasika Musdi.  August 16, 2007.

China

Floods

Floods and rains in China have already affected two out of three of the country’s annual shrimp harvests.

Copeinca ASA, Peru’s third-largest fishmeal producer, slashed its full-year profit forecast by 25 percent because of lower demand from China.

Source: Bloomberg.com.  Copeinca Cuts Profit Forecast on Lower Chinese Demand (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=arTHyriIBzAg&refer=latin_america).  Bunny Nooryani (bnooryani@bloomberg.net).  August 20, 2007.

Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands

Disease-Free Broodstock

The Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a chain of 15 tropical islands in the western Pacific Ocean (15°10’51”N, 145°45’21”E) that belongs to the USA, has the potential to become a pathogen-free (SPF) zone for shrimp broodstock production, according to CNMI aquaculture consultant Michael Ogo, who said that due to the strategic location of the islands, the Commonwealth could be a hub for the export of shrimp that have a documented history of being free of all specified pathogens.  As an SPF zone in the Pacific, the CNMI would have to ban all live shrimp imports.

Making the CNMI a SPF zone is doable and feasible, Ogo said.  Since it sits in the middle of the ocean, the island territory is very far from countries with shrimp diseases.  He pointed out that CNMI is near Asia, which means a shorter travel time when delivering shrimp and probably a higher survival rate.  The USA Marine Shrimp Farming Program sells SPF/SPR shrimp to USA broodstock producers only.  Since CNMI is a territory of the USA, it can purchase broodstock from the program.

Currently, there is only one major shrimp producer in CNMI, on the island of Saipan.

Source: Saipan Tribune.  CNMI a potential SPF Zone (http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?newsID=71482&cat=1).  Marconi Calindas.  August 18, 2007.

Ecuador

Tariffs Dropped Early

On August 15, 2007, five days ahead of schedule, a USA trade representative instructed the Department of Commerce to drop all dumping duties against Ecuador.

Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service).  U.S. lifts all Ecuador shrimp tariffs 5 days early, with effective date of Aug. 15th.  Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com).  August 20, 2007.

India

Row Crop Damage from Shrimp Ponds

In Surat (northwest India), a district official has ordered an inquiry into allegations from row crop farmers in Olpad that their fields became waterlogged and salty when heavy rains caused shrimp ponds to overflow their banks.

Pradip Navik, president of the Surat Aquaculture Farmers Association said, “Waterlogging in Olpad was due to heavy rainfall and not shrimp farming ponds.”

In Olpad, there are close to 860 people actively involved in Penaeus monodon farming on over 1,500 acres of land.  The crop generates about $1.5 million a year for exporters in Mumbai.

Source: Ahmedabad Newsline.  Investigation ordered into allegations of crop damage by shrimp ponds in Olpad (http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=251522).  August 18, 2007.

Indonesia

Jobs

The Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA), an intergovernmental organization that promotes rural development through sustainable aquaculture, is seeking Indonesian and regional aquaculture specialists for short and long-term assignments in an expanding aquaculture rehabilitation program in Aceh Province on the northern tip of Sumatra.  The specialists will manage:

• District shrimp farm rehabilitation projects

• Extension services on best management practices

• The development of aquaculture farming groups

• The improvement of the market chain

Indonesian language is desirable, but not essential.  Salaries will be based on NACA salary scales and experience, plus associated travel, insurance and living expenses.  Interested candidates are invited to send an email containing a brief overview of experience, a short CV and the names of two reference to etesp@enaca.org.

Source: Network of Aquaculture Centers in Asia-Pacific Webpage.  Jobs/NACA seeks shrimp farm specialists for assignments in Indonesia.  Posted by koji_Y.  August 17, 2007.

Malaysia

Jobs

A farm in Malaysia is hiring:

1. A shrimp farm operator

2. A general manager of hatchery operations

3. A farm supervisor

4. An operations maintenance engineer

5. A laboratory technician

6. A logistic supervisor

7. A general manager of farm operations

Malaysians preferred.  Interested parties should email their CVs to jobs@bluearchipelago.com.

Source: The Shrimp List (a mailing list for shrimp farmers, “shrimp-subscribe@yahoogroups.com”).  Subject: [shrimp] Positions in Farm in Malaysia.  From: Zuridah Merican (mericant@streamyx.com).  August 17, 2007.

Panama

The Scientific Classification of Shrimp

The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s Bocas Research Station will conduct a short course on shrimp (Caridea, Dendrobranchiata and Stenopodidea) taxonomy on August 4-16, 2008.  The farmed penaeids fall under the suborder Dendrobranchiata.

Registration Fee: $500 (fellowships available).

Instructors: Drs. Sammy De Grave (Oxford University), Arthur Anker (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute) and Michel Hendrickx (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mazatlán).

The course is for graduate students and law students and will be conducted in English.  Email your CV, a letter of recommendation and a 1-2 page statement explaining your background and reasons for taking the course to Rebecca Rissanen at rissanenj@si.edu before March 15, 2008.  Limit 12 students.

Source: 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:2939] Re: Shrimp class.  From: jeff@vims.edu.  August 17, 2007.

Thailand

Shrimp Exports

To avoid the problem of low prices for small shrimp, the Thai Fisheries Department has encouraged farmers to start producing more large shrimp [presumably Penaeus monodon, the giant tiger shrimp].  Unfortunately, the Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei), the dominant species in Thailand, yields only small to medium-sizes in intensive culture.

Source: The Nation.  Shrimp exports: Switch to premium sizes advised (http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/08/17/business/business_30045327.php).  August 17, 2007.

Thailand

USA Shrimp Consumption May Drop in 2007

 Due to the current financial crisis in the USA, Poj Aramwattananont, president of the Thai Frozen Foods Association, said shrimp exporters believe USA consumption will drop by about 10% in 2007.

Some exporters have shifted their focus to Japan, hoping the new Thailand-Japan free trade agreement that takes effect on October 1, 2007, will boost shrimp exports.  The agreement eliminates tariffs on frozen and processed shrimp.  It could increase fresh and processed shrimp exports by 5% to 10% over 2006, Poj added.  Last year, Thailand’s exports of fresh and processed shrimp reached 305,807 tons worth $1.99 billion.  The USA imported 177,717 tons worth $1.19 billion.  Export volume to Japan was 47,177 tons worth $410 million, while 14,865 tons worth $93 million were shipped to the EU.

Source: BangkokPost.com.  Trade/China woes helping Thai food exports (http://www.bangkokpost.com).  Phusadee Arunmas.  August 20, 2007.

Thailand

20-30 Metric Tons Per Acre Per Crop

Progressive Thai farmers produce 20-30 metric tons per acre per crop using SPF/TVR (Penaeus vannamei) shrimp.  Crop value and profits are two to three times greater with P. vannamei than with P. monodon.  Disease episodes are greatly reduced with SPF P. vannamei leading to more reliable, consistent crop performance.

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.  August 13, 2007.  Abstract/Domestication and Breeding SPF P. monodon (Asia-Pacific Aquaculture 2007, Hanoi, Vietnam, August 5-8, 2007).

United States

Georgia—“I’ll Never Eat Georgia Shrimp Again....”

This from the Savannah Morning News, from one of its webpages titled Vox Populi (the voice of the people), a page where the general public can respond anonymously to items in the paper.

“I will never eat Georgia shrimp again, after seeing all of the fish they kill just to get their precious shrimp.  I’ll eat farm-raised from China first.”

Source: Savannah Morning News.  Bryan County Vox Populi (http://www.savannahnow.com/node/344858).  August 16, 2007.

United States

Missouri—Global Aquaculture Alliance Clusters

The Global Aquaculture Alliance’s (GAA) Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) guidelines for the certification of clusters of small shrimp farms are nearing completion and will soon be posted to GAA’s website for public comment.

The changes proposed by GAA’s Shrimp Farm Technical Committee deal primarily with applying the BAP standards for large farms to groups of small farms organized as a unit under a legally registered entity.  For example, the standards for effluents will be the same for large farms and cluster farms.  The effluent sampling method, however, would be modified so that rather than testing all farms, inspectors would test at discharge points shared by several farms or perform random sampling of some of the farms.

As currently conceived, the numbers and areas of farms in clusters may vary among countries and settings.  Although common boundaries are not required, individual farms within a cluster should be located near each other and use similar production methods.  Ideally, farms would share a common water outfall or have linked discharge points.  As proposed, the total pond area within clusters could not exceed 100 hectares, and annual production would be limited to a total of 500 metric tons.

The cluster approach was adopted as a way to encourage small shrimp farms to participate in BAP certification.  For many small, family-run farms in Asia, the cost of BAP certification in just too high.  Clustering allows groups of farmers to pool their interests, both economically and logistically, to achieve certified status.

BAP certification is meant to complement existing national and regional seafood quality and certification systems.  Farmers in a cluster must demonstrate that they are in compliance with government regulations that address labor laws, effluent limits and the legal use of land and water.

Representatives of both GAA and the Aquaculture Certification Council (ACC), which inspects farms, hatcheries and processing plants to make sure they comply with the BAP standards, have had meetings with shrimp farmers in Thailand, India, Bangladesh and Vietnam regarding potential synergies.

ACC has accredited nearly 40 shrimp farms in eight countries in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.  The majority of the farms are large farms in Central America.

During a trip to Thailand in May 2007, ACC Vice President William More and auditor/inspector Ken Corpron visited with more than 130 small farmers at meetings on clustering.  At one of the meetings, farmers learned to self-audit their farms for compliance with the program.  The sample results they collected were passed on for further review.

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).  News/Best Aquaculture Practices/Cluster Approach Provides BAP Option for Small Farms.  Volume 10, Issue 4, Page 18, July/August 2007.

United States

Texas—Frozen Bait Shrimp

Wanted: raw, frozen, head-on, 71/80 count shrimp.  Each shrimp should weigh about 6 grams.  Grade not important.  Species not important.  Need 20,000 to 40,000 a month.

Information: Gintautas Zavadzkas, AcauGenesis LP USA (gintas@acuagenesis.com).

Source: AquaNic (The Aquaculture Network Information Center, a gateway to the world’s electronic aquaculture resources, http://aquanic.org/index.htm).  Shrimp Discussion Group (http://www.aquanic.org/discuss/shrimp.htm).  Shrimp Wanted (http://www.aquanic.org/discuss/_shrimp/0000119a.htm).  From: AcuaGenesis LP.  August 13, 2007.