SeaWater Express

George Behar’s “New” Shrimp Hatchery in Nevada

On August 14, 2008, I chatted with George Behar, owner of SeaWater Express, about his small shrimp hatchery in Pahrump, Nevada, that was renovated recently.  Previously, George produced tropical fish, and postlarval, juvenile and adult shrimp.  Now, he is concentrating on the production of Penaeus vannamei postlarvae.

Shrimp News: When I visited SeaWater Express a couple of years ago, you had some captive Penaeus vannamei broodstock and were producing some postlarvae.  What has changed?

George Behar: We completely remodeled, modernized and automated the hatchery to make it more efficient—and the number of labor hours to run the hatchery dropped by 50%.  Right now, on average, we’re producing 500,000 nauplii a day and an average of 100,000 postlarvae every three days.

Shrimp News: How much are you selling them for, per thousand?

George Behar: The minimum order is 50,000 PLs, and I think I’ll be pricing them at right around $20 a thousand, plus shipping and handling.  We produce robust postlarvae.  As soon as the nauplii hatch, we put a strong light on them.  The healthiest nauplii rise to the light and are quickly collected and the rest are discarded.  Then in order to thin them out even more, we crowd them in the nauplii incubators so they have to compete for food.  The weak animals die off and we harvest the strong ones.  Our survival rate from naup to PL is probably only 50%, but our PLs are ready to face the rigors of growout.

Shrimp News: Where did you get your broodstock?

George Behar: From Kona Bay Marine Resources in Hawaii.  Every batch arrived with a certificate of health from the United States Department of Agriculture and the State of Hawaii, along with performance sheets on how the shrimp are expected to perform.  All the broodstock is certified specific pathogen free (SPF).  They’ve been tested for whitespot and all the other diseases.  Jim Sweeney at Kona Bay has been just marvelous to work with, more than willing to help a small-scale guy like me get started.

This winter (2007-2008) when we ran into an inbreeding problem with our previous broodstock, we took the old hatchery apart piece by piece and sterilized everything.  We chlorinated the walls, the tanks and all the nooks and crannies.  We like our disease-free status, and we’re going to keep it that way.

We have separate rooms for maturation and nauplii production and separate buildings for algae and larvae culture.  We have absolutely no problems with our animals.  The animals that we got from Kona Bay are exceptional creatures, and we are very happy with the production we are getting from them.

Shrimp News: Tell me about your water system.

George Behar: We truck in natural seawater from San Diego, California.  To make sure our operation stays disease free, we chlorinate all of the water before it enters the hatchery.  Then we filter it through carbon and then through a one micron cartridge.  On top of that, we have developed a way to recycle our water and use it in other parts of the hatchery so that we don’t discharge any water.

We’re growing all our own algae; I get fresh, clean cultures from some of my friends in academia.  It’s always disease free, bacteria free, everything free.

Shrimp News: What are you feeding the broodstock?

George Behar: The broodstock is getting the normal hatchery diet: squid, brine shrimp, polychaetes and a small amount of dry maturation feed.

Information: George Behar, SeaWater Express, Inc., 6640 South Capricorn Street, Pahrump, Nevada 89061 USA (phone 702-561-5743, fax 775-751-2601, email shrimp@pahrump.com, webpage http://www.seawaterexpress.com).

Sources: 1. George Behar, telephone interview by Bob Rosenberry, Shrimp News International.  August 14, 2008.  2. SeaWater Express’s website on August 26, 2008.

Country Reports

Bangladesh

Job—Shrimp Hatchery

MKA Hatchery in Cox’s Bazar has a position open for a senior shrimp hatchery manager.

Salary: Based on experience.

Closing Date: September 12, 2008.

Requirements: Advanced degree, minimum of six years working with broodstock and postlarvae.

Job Description: Six months, working with an Indian consultant, involves travel on speedboats to collect broodstock from trawlers.

Contact: Anwar Ali Shaik, Shrimp Hatchery Consultant (phone 00918836573457, email rjyprofessional@yahoo.com).

Source: AquaNic (The Aquaculture Network Information Center, a gateway to the world’s electronic aquaculture resources).  Jobs Directory in cooperation with the WAS Employment Service.  Search jobs.  Senior Shrimp Hatchery Expert (http://aquanic.org/jobs/jobinfo.asp?jobid=2922).  Posted: August 24, 2008.

Belgium

INVE

Over the last several months, shareholders of the INVE Group and external financial institutions have worked to reinforce the company’s operational and financial structure.  On August 8, 2008, by converting debt to equity, INVE substantially increased its working capital; however, the debt/equity swap has changed the ownership of the company.  Now, ABN AMRO Bank, N.V., and Rabobank hold a large majority of INVE’s shares.  All previous shareholders are in a minority position.

INVE’s management structure will change radically.  The current shareholders will resign from their management functions.  The function of CEO will temporarily be taken up by M. Benno Hüsken, a partner in Custom Management Association, a company that does temporary management.

Information: INVE Technologies, Hoogveld 93, 9200 Dendermonde, Belgium (phone 32-(0)-52-40-95-95, fax 32-0-52-40-95-80) email inve_technologies@inve.be, webpage http://www.inve.com/Home/page.aspx/946).

Source: INVE’s Website.  Press Release—INVE Strengthens Financial Structure.  August 11, 2008.

Belgium

INVE

On August 28, 2008, Philippe Léger, Business Unit Manager, at INVE AQUACULTURE, posted to the Shrimp List:

“INVE Group of companies including four business units (amongst which INVE Aquaculture is one) has gone through an aggressive expansion period since 2000, leaving behind a considerable debt.  It has been in full agreement between the present shareholders and the banks that debt was converted into equity.”

“INVE Aquaculture has enjoyed a continued growth since its establishment in the early eighties and today is operationally healthier than ever before.”

“INVE Aquaculture is not the ‘Artemia Company’ anymore, like in the 1980s and 1990s, but has grown to a market leader in aquaculture nutrition and health specialties with a broad portfolio of solutions for aquaculture hatcheries, farms and feed mills.”

Information: Philippe Léger, INVE Technologies, Hoogveld 93, 9200 Dendermonde, Belgium (phone 32-(0)-52-40-95-95, fax 32-0-52-40-95-80) email p.leger@inve.be, webpage http://www.inve.com).

Source: The Shrimp List (a mailing list for shrimp farmers).  Subject: [shrimp] Re:News = INVE.  From: Philippe Léger (p.leger@inve.be).  August 28, 2008.

India

The Dumping Case

The USA-based Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA), the group of shrimp processors and fishermen in the southeastern United States that initiated the dumping case, has obtained a stay against the reduction of dumping duties on Indian shrimp levied by the USA Department of Commerce.  SSA demanded the temporary cessation of the second annual review and requested that a new review be conducted.

Anwar Hashim, national president of Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI), said, “This would mean that the refund on the cash bond executed during exports will be delayed.”

The second annual review (for the period of February 1, 2006, to January 31, 2007) had reduced the dumping duty on Indian shrimps to 1.69%.

Source: The Financial Express.  SSA stays cut in anti-dumping duty on Indian Shrimps.  August 13, 2008.

Indonesia

Lim Shrimp

TK Lim, honorary chairman of Lim Shrimp, is the co-founder of the world’s largest integrated shrimp farm, PT Dipasena Citra Darmaja (pictured below), now part of CP Prima and renamed PT Aruna Wijaya Sakti.  He, together with his brother Sjamsul Nursalim, is also co-founder of renowned PT Gajah Tunggal, one of the top fifteen tire manufacturers in the world.

TK got started in shrimp farming in the early 1980s with a shrimp farm in Putian, China, followed by several shrimp farms and hatcheries in Malaysia in the mid-1980s.

Dipasena was TK’s brainchild.  When he started the project it was a swamp with no people; today it’s a community with over 300,000 people—all dependent on shrimp farming for a living!

In the late 1990s, he and his brother Sjamsul invested $20 million in a high-tech, closed-system shrimp farm and hatchery on China’s Hainan Island.  Today, that farm is known for its chemical and virus-free shrimp.

In the mid-2000s, TK built a 660-hectare indoor shrimp farm in Jiangsu Province, China, 90 kilometers north of Shanghai.

Lim Shrimp has been working with the Indonesian Government and the private sector for the last 18 years.  It provides the following services:

• Feasibility Studies

• Partnerships with Governments

• Joint Ventures with the Private Sector

• Master Planning

• Project Construction

• Project Implementation

• Marketing Plans

Source: Lim Shrimp’s Website (http://www.limshrimp.org/).  Website Visit on August 15, 2008.

Kuwait

Wanted—Info on Growing Penaeus vannamei in High Salinity Water

I need information on growing SPF P. vannamei at high salinities (38-40 ppt).  Specifically, I’m interested in the following information:

1. Growth rate per week

2. Broodstock performance (nauplii per female, average spawns per female)

3. Approximate production costs per kilogram

4. Approximate production costs for 1,000 postlarvae

5. Commercial feeds with proven results

6. Ways to cut production costs

7. New production technologies

Information: Chidambara Regunathan, Ph.D., Al Oula Marine, Kuwait (email aloulaseafood@yahoo.com).

Source: The Shrimp List (a mailing list for shrimp farmers).  Subject: [shrimp] requesting details on L. vannamei farming.  From: aloulaseafood@yahoo.com.  August 15, 2008.

Malaysia

Sabah—Asia Aquaculture, a Subsidiary of the CP Group

Asia Aquaculture (M), Sdn., Bhd., a subsidiary of Thailand’s CP Group and the largest producer of shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) in Sabah, a Malaysian state on the north coast of the island of Borneo, aims to produce about 1,700 metric tons of shrimp in 2008, 400 metric tons more than in 2007.  Pornphot Churod, Asia Aquaculture’s general manager said: “We are very confident that this year’s production target could be achieved, and if the current market price of $2.99 per kilogram continues, the company’s revenue from this year’s production would be about $51 million.  Most of our production is exported to...Japan, the United States and the European Union.”

Pornphot said he got started by supplying shrimp feed to farmers before directly venturing into the farming industry.  He said it cost $1.8 million to build the farm, not counting management costs.  The company now has about 130 workers who receive housing and electricity.  All workers are trained to produce high-quality, disease-free shrimp.

Source: Yahoo News.  Malaysian Shrimp Producer Aims to Produce 1,700 Tonnes This Yr.  Bernama-Oana.  August 15, 2008.

Philippines

SPF Penaeus vannamei Hatchery

The Cruztacean Hatchery, located on the island of Panay, is one of five accredited P. vannamei hatcheries in the Philippines that produce postlarvae using specific pathogen free broodstock imported from Hawaii.

The hatchery, which was accredited in early 2008, hopes to produce 10-15 million postlarvae per cycle.  During the first three cycles, the average survival rate from nauplii to PL was 40%.  The current demand from farms in the southern islands of the Philippines is estimated at 200-250 million PLs a year.  Philip Cruz, owner of the Cruztacean Hatchery, said that there is a likelihood that his production will double by the end of 2008, as more black tiger shrimp (P. monodon) farmers shift to vannamei farming.

At the hatchery, male and female broodstock are kept together in the same tank for 3-4 weeks during acclimation.  They are fed a commercial maturation diet, polychaete worms and coldwater squid.  Maturation occurs three weeks after eyestalk ablation.  The hatchery is presently using a simplified feeding protocol with good results, feeding only the algae Thalassiosira and liquid feed from the zoea stage to PL-5.  Excess nauplii are sold to other accredited hatcheries.  Testing for disease starts at PL-5.  Buyers also have the PLs checked by independent laboratories.  The hatchery sells PL-10s for approximately $4 a thousand.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), the Government authority in charge of issuing permits for imports and for certifying the hatcheries, is expected to accredit additional maturation and hatchery facilities on Luzon, Mindanao and the Visayan Islands.  BFAR and associated agencies check on the disease status of the broodstock at selected entry points.  The facilities at the Aquaculture Department of SEAFDEC, equipped with two PCR (polymerase chain reaction) machines and one real time PCR machine, are used to carry out the tests, and those that pass receive a BFAR certificate.  Shrimp farmers on Negros Occidental send their samples to the Negros Prawn Producers Marketing Cooperative in Bacolod City for PCR testing.

Source: Aqua Culture AsiaPacific (Editor/Publisher, Zuridah Merican, email zuridah@aquaasiapac.com).  SPF vannamei shrimp hatchery: A new start in the Philippines.  Zuridah Merican.  Volume 4, Number 4, Page 8, July/August 2008.

South Africa

SeaArk Africa

Located in the Coega Industrial Development Zone in the Eastern Cape, Sea Ark is still in its pilot phase, but already exports large amounts of shrimp.  Papa Leshabane, a director of Sea Ark, says in the next five to six years they will create about 11,000 jobs in the Eastern Cape.

Source: SABC News.  SA investment in fishing industry grows.  August 15, 2008.

Tanzania

Bans Fishing for Shrimp

In a move that might affect the supply of wild Penaeus monodon broodstock in the Middle East and elsewhere, the Tanzanian Government has banned shrimp fishing in its coastal waters because of the drastic decline in shrimp stocks.

Source: This Day.  Government bans prawn fishing in Indian Ocean.  Dodoma.  August 25, 2008.

United States

Hawaii—SPF Postlarvae For Sale

Paradise Shrimp Farms in Waialua, Hawaii, has begun selling specific pathogen free (SPF) Penaeus vannamei postlarvae to the state’s shrimp farmers.  On August 12, 2008, using PCR methodology, representative samples of Paradise’s postlarvae tested negative for IHHNV, WSSV, TSV, YHV, BP, MBV and IMNV.  Paradise also sells SPF P. vannamei broodstock.

In Hawaii, prior to purchasing and transferring postlarvae, shrimp farms must obtain an Intrastate Live Movement Permit from the state’s Plant Quarantine Office (PQO), and the farm must be inspected by state officials before farming operations can begin.  The transfer permit must be shown to the supplier before transfer, as both supplier and purchaser can be held responsible for unauthorized live seedstock transfers.  To arrange the inspection or to get a postlarvae transmit permit, contact Vernon Nakamoto, Plant Quarantine Office (phone 808-832-0577), or Dr. Allen C. Riggs, State of Hawaii Aquaculture Veterinary Medical Officer (808-832-5005).

Information: Jung Hoi Ku, Paradise Shrimp Farm, 67-021 Waialua Beach Road, Waialua, HI 96791 USA (phone 808- 389-1163).

Source: Email to Shrimp News International from the Hawaii Aquaculture Development Program.  Subject: New SPF Shrimp Seedstock Source/Notice to Hawaii shrimp producers who need postlarvae shrimp.  August 25, 2008.

United States

Louisiana—New Rules

On August 15, 2008, the Louisiana Legislature passed a law stating that: A restaurateur who tries to pass off imported shrimp as having been caught in the United States may be fined $50 for the first offense, $250 for the second offense and $500 thereafter.

Source: Shreveport Times.com.  Nearly 500 Louisiana laws start today.  Associated Press.  August 15, 2008.

United States

Utah—Brine Shrimp

Brine shrimp, used as a broodstock and postlarvae feed in shrimp hatcheries worldwide, finds itself at center stage in one of Utah’s biggest environmental debates.  The state Division of Water Quality is updating its clean-water rules, as it does every three years, and it’s suggesting a number of changes that will affect the contaminant levels wildlife are exposed to in the Great Salt Lake.  Selenium has been a big focus.  Critics say the state’s proposal, now up for public comment, allows for too much selenium in Gilbert Bay, the southwestern quadrant of the Great Salt Lake.

Don Leonard, director of the Utah Artemia Association, wants the state to limit selenium in brine shrimp.  His association’s 20 member companies harvested about 1.2 million pounds of brine shrimp eggs from the Great Salt Lake last season that are expected to fetch around $25 million.  “We in the industry are always on the watch to protect the brine shrimp resource from contaminants,” he said.  “We do not want the amount of selenium in our product to make it unmarketable to our foreign customers.”

Source: The Salt Lake Tribune.  Tiny brine shrimp seeks bigger role in water quality.  Judy Fahys (fahys@sltrib.com).  August 13, 2008.

United States

Washington, DC—Shrimp Imports in the First Half of 2008

The USA imported about the same amount of shrimp with about the same value in the first half of 2008 as it did the first half of 2007.  The USA imported 236 million kilograms of shrimp valued at $1.65 billion in the six months ended June 30, 2008, compared to imports of 262.2 million kilos valued at $1.61 billion in the first half of 2007.

Indonesia, the top shrimp supplier to the United States, made substantial gains in several size categories, more than tripling its shipments in one segment and becoming the leading supplier in several size categories.

China remains the USA’s leading supplier of breaded frozen shrimp, exporting over 13 million kilos worth $55.2 million in 2008, down from 17.4 million kilos worth $77.2 million in the first half of 2007, according to the latest statistics from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).

Thailand leads in the frozen-other category, shipping the USA 25 million kilos of product valued at $176.9 million, down from 26.3 million kilos worth $177 million in 2007.  China saw its production almost cut in half, from 6.9 million kilos worth $34.8 million in 2007 to 3.6 million kilos valued at $21.1 million in 2008.

Thailand held off Indonesia for the lead in the peeled frozen sector, with exports of 19.9 million kilos worth $147.5 million, down from 24.9 million valued at $175.1 in 2007.  Indonesia boosted its shipments from 13.8 million kilos valued at $102.9 million to 17.7 million kilos worth $136.6 million.

Source: The Wave (an online, subscription-based news service published by IntraFish Media, Norway).  Editorial Director, John Fiorillo (phone 206-282-3474, extension 25, cell 206-963-5732, fax 206-282-3470, email john.fiorillo@intrafish.com).  No change in half-year U.S. shrimp import totals.  Ben DiPietro.  August 14, 2008.

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