Shrimp Farming in Indonesia
Shrimp News Interviews Robert Kusnadi
On September 7, 2006, at the Texas A&M Shrimp Farming Short Course, I interviewed Robert Kusnadi, a shrimp farmer from Indonesia who was taking the course.
Shrimp News: Where is your farm located?
Robert Kusnadi: In western Java on the southern coast. Shrimp farming got started in Indonesia in the early 1980s, on the northwestern coast of Java, around Pantura.
Shrimp News: Are there many farms in your area?
Robert Kusnadi: In my area there are not many farms because of the difficulty in finding flat coastal land; however, in southeast Sumatra and on parts of Java, Kalimantan and south Sulawesi, there are many traditional, low-density, low-technology farms and high-density, high-technology farms.
The traditional, low-stocking-density farms can be any size, some of them tiny, but not many of them are making money anymore and many of their ponds lie idle. If it's an intensive farm with employees and absentee owners, the farms range from 20 ponds up to 100 or 150 ponds. The owners usually don't know much about the technical aspects of shrimp farming, so they hire biologists or technicians to run the farms for them.
Shrimp News: How did you learn about shrimp farming?
Robert Kusnadi: I was hired to turn the farm around. It was not doing very well. I went to seminars, talked to other farmers, talked to some of the old-timers in the industry, joined the shrimp farmers association...I learned by doing.
Shrimp News: Were you able to turn the farm around?
Robert Kusnadi: Yes, I've been running it for three years now, and we have recovered all our investment from the bad years when my father-in-law and his partner were running it and growing Penaeus monodon. Now we're making a good profit. I took a conservative approach, made sure that everything we did was sustainable, and now we're reaping the benefits. Many farms in other areas overstocked and got wiped out. It's always up and down for them. We believe in the slow, steady, consistent approach.
Shrimp News: Tell me about your farm?
Robert Kusnadi: It's a family-owned farm that my father-in-law started with a partner in 1992 and completed construction in 1995 on the south coast of western Java. From then until mid-2003, they produced the giant tiger shrimp, P. monodon. When the partner ran into some medical problems, my father-in-law bought his shares, and we restarted the farm with the western white shrimp, P. vannamei. Now, almost all of the shrimp farms in Indonesia culture vannamei. Because of the whitespot problem with monodon in the mid to late 1990s, many farmers turned to vannamei in early 2000, especially the farmers in eastern Java who pioneered the culture even though at that time the Department of Marine Fisheries declared vannamei to be illegal. Later in 2002, the Department of Marine Fisheries legalized vannamei. Vannamei was like an angle from heaven and saved the industry from total collapse. Now specific-pathogen-free and specific-pathogen-resistant vannamei postlarvae are available, and that's not the case with monodon.
Our land area is about 100 hectares and we have about 99 ponds on 30 hectares of the land, plus two reservoirs, one of them three hectares, the other six hectares. It's an intensive, flow-through farm; we don't recirulate our water. We usually stock at about 150 to 200 per square meter, but this year to keep everything under control, we're stocking at about 130 to 150 a square meter. In 2005, we got about 17 metric tons per hectare per crop, with a minimum of two crops a year and a maximum of three. Last year, we produced 1,600 metric tons. This year, we're getting about $4.20 a kilo for 40-count whole animals. We buy our postlarvae from the CP Group (Charoen Pokphand), which has a hatchery nearby that can produce 900 million postlarvae a month. Right now, it's producing about 600 million PLs a month and half of them go to its farms.
During the monodon years, the farm had problems with whitespot, but since we've been growing vannamei, we haven't had any serious bacterial or viral disease problems. Vibrios come and go with the seasons and we use probiotics to control them.
We use one and two-horsepower paddlewheels and aerators that inject air into the water. They add up to about 15 to 20 horsepower per hectare. Some farms in other areas use air blowers connected to a system of pipes on the pond bottom.
We regularly apply probiotics. We buy bacterial starter cultures, grow them to larger volumes and then apply them to the ponds. We have observed that probiotics help keep Vibrio counts under control. Early this year, we had low survivals, but when we doubled our application of probiotics, our survivals improved. We look at the pond bottom and see less waste material when we use probiotics. It's a constant treatment. We even treat our reservoirs with probiotics. We have four ponds that we use for research. We compared the brand of probiotics that we are using with three other brands, most of which are produced locally. Shrimp production was about the same for all four brands, but their prices differed dramatically. Our brand costs about 1.5 cents per kilo; other brands cost as much as seven cents a kilo.
Shrimp News: Which feed companies are selling in your area?
Robert Kusnadi: Charoen Pokphand, Gold Coin, Comfeed and some local brands.
Shrimp News: Do they all make feeds for monodon and vannamei?
Robert Kusnadi: Yes.
Shrimp News: Are any other species of shrimp farmed in your area?
Robert Kusnadi: Yes, stylirostris, but not in our area. I have a friend who has a hatchery for "rostries". Some of the farms are doing polyculture with monodon and vannamei, including Charoen Pokphand, in reserch ponds.
Shrimp News: Where are most of the shrimp farms on Java located?
Robert Kusnadi: Most of them used to be located on the northwest coast of Java, then they moved to east Java, and now most of the active farms are in northeast Java. There are also many farms on the south coast of Java at the east end of the island. The center of the processing industry is around Surabaya.
Information: Robert Kusnadi and Ir. Tri Iswanto (site manager), PT LM, Jalan P. Jayakarta 115, Block C 1-3, Jakarta 10730, Indonesia (phone 62-21-658-36268, fax 62-21-653-08338).
Source: Robert Kusnadi, interview by Bob Rosenberry, Shrimp News International. Port Aransas, Texas, USA. September 7, 2006.
Country Reports
Australia
Risk Analysis of Shrimp Imports
On November 23, 2006, Biosecurity Australia issued a revised draft of its import risk analysis on imported shrimp.
Australia currently allows shrimp and shrimp products to be imported for human consumption subject to compliance with quarantine conditions intended to manage the risks of yellowhead virus, whitespot syndrome virus and Taura syndrome virus. Quarantine conditions include health certificates, on-arrival inspection, and testing for whitespot. Thus far, they have been implemented on an interim basis--while the comprehensive risk analysis is being completed.
The draft report concludes that five of nine shrimp diseases require quarantine risk management measures if imports are to continue:
1. Whitespot syndrome virus (WSSV)
2. Yellowhead virus (YHV)
3. Infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHHNV)
4. Taura syndrome virus (TSV)
5. Necrotizing hepatopancreatitis bacterium (NHPB)
The report proposes some stringent risk management measures:
1. Imports from disease-free regions only
2. Removal of the head and shell to test for WSSV, YHV and IHHNV
3. High standards for uncooked shrimp
4. Disease-free certificates for cooked product
5. Local cooking of imports under quarantine only
After considering stakeholder comments, Biosecurity Australia intends to recommend strengthening the current interim quarantine measures, consistent with the measures proposed above.
Australia takes a conservative approach to quarantine. Biosecurity Australia undertakes science-based analyses to assess the risks associated with agricultural imports. Their analyses play an important role in keeping Australia free from pests and diseases that occur in other countries.
A final report, together with recommendations for a quarantine policy, will then be open to appeal before consideration by Australia's Director of Quarantine.
The draft report is available on Biosecurity Australia's website: www.biosecurityaustralia.gov.au.
Source: GROWfish (Gippsland Aquaculture Industry Network, Inc., http://www.growfish.com.au/default.asp). GROWfish eNewsletter (subscribehtml@growfish.com.au). Draft import risk analysis report for prawns (http://www.growfish.com.au/content.asp?contentid=7942). November 23, 2006.
Australia
The End of Imports
Biosecurity Australia's recommendations for tougher quarantine restrictions on shrimp imports will effectively end shrimp imports into Australia. Federal Fisheries Minister Eric Abetz said if the draft recommendations are adopted, most of the countries that currently send shrimp to Australia would not be able to prove they are free of shrimp diseases. Abetz said, "I doubt at this stage that there would be any countries which would be able to satisfy this requirement, but there may well be countries that do have a shrimp farming industry or a wild catch fishery that is disease free and in those circumstances they would be allowed to export to Australia."
Source: ABC Rural. Stronger quarantine conditions for imported prawns recommended (http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/2006/s1796623.htm). November 24, 2006.
Brunei
New Feed Mill
In mid-November 2006, Berjaya Makmur, Sdn., Bhd., began construction on the country's first feed mill, which will have the capacity to produce 67,000 metric tons of animal feed a year. It could be in production by the end of March 2007. Representing Berjaya Makmur, Awang Hj Abdullah bin Hj Metahir, said, "The plant will be equipped with two types of machines that can process animal feed. The first machine processes animal feed for cows, goats and chicken, while the other will process food for fishes and shrimp."
Source: Borneo Bulletin. New animal food manufacturing plant for Brunei (http://www.brunei-online.com/sunday/news/nov19h5.htm, inaccessible address, page has moved). James Kon. November 19, 2006.
Indonesia
Red Chamber
Red Chamber Co. (Vernon, California, USA), America's largest shrimp importer, said it wants to invest in the development of shrimp farming in eastern Indonesia.
Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service). Red Chamber wants to invest in shrimp production in eastern Indonesia. Ken Koons. Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com). November 21, 2006.
Norway
Genetic Selection
Although the history of shrimp breeding is relatively short, advanced family-based programs targeting growth rate and disease resistance have been established for Penaeus vannamei, P. japonicus, P. monodon and P. chinensis.
Simple, low-cost, mass selection programs can be highly efficient for improving growth rate over the short term, but most advanced large-scale programs involve family selection. Family-based designs are more flexible and facilitate better monitoring and control of inbreeding, and they are essential for improving traits of intermediate to low heritability. This presentation, based on recent developments in quantitative and molecular genetics and related fields, discusses selection strategies for penaeid shrimp.
Source: World Aquaculture Society. The CD of the Aqua 2006 Abstracts (Florence, Italy, May 2006). Optimization of Genetic Selection Strategies for Penaeid Shrimp. Morten Rye (morten.rye@afgc.no) and Bjarne Gjerde (Akvaforsk Genetics Center, N-6600 Sunndalsøra, Norway). Information: John Cooksey, World Aquaculture Conference Management, P.O. Box 2302, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA (phone 760-751-5005, fax 760-751-5003, email worldaqua@aol.com, webpage www.was.org).
Pakistan
If the Saudis Can Do It in the Desert
Sardar Hanif Khan, chairman the Pakistan Seafood Industries Association, said that shrimp farming was "...the only way to boost seafood exports, as the fast depleting fisheries stocks are unable to sustain this growth on a long-term basis." He said, "If Saudi Arabia can do it in the desert, then why is it not possible in a country like Pakistan, which has a long coastline?"
Source: Daily Times. Seafood exports decline in Q1 (http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C11%5C21%5Cstory_21-11-2006_pg5_10). Tanveer Ahmed. November 21, 2006.
Thailand
Visitors from Iran and Iraq
From November 5 to 20, 2006, 18 technical officers from the Iranian Fisheries Organization (Shilat) visited Thailand for an intensive two-week training course in shrimp farming. The course included ten days of classroom lectures, discussions and case study analyses taught by internationally recognized experts in shrimp health and shrimp farming, including Khun Pornlerd Chanratchakool, Tim Flegel and Charlor Limsuwan. Participants visited farms and hatcheries and met with local shrimp farmer clubs to talk shop.
As the Iranians prepared to depart, a five-member delegation arrived from Iraq, as part of a three-week visit to study freshwater aquaculture in Thailand and China.
Source: Network of Aquaculture Centers in Asia-Pacific Webpage. Training: Iranian officers train in advanced marine shrimp farming and meet Iraqi delegation at NACA (http://www.enaca.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=869). Posted by Simon Wilkinson. November 21, 2006.
United States
California--Shrimp News International
I've added a new page to the Free Reports section of this site. It's titled "Shrimp Farming at Aquaculture 2007" and will keep you up-to-date with the shrimp farming aspects of the World Aquaculture Society meeting set for February 26 to March 2, 2007, in San Antonio, Texas, USA. If you would like to publicize a shrimp farming activity at "Aquaculture 2007", please forward information about it, and I'll put you at the top of the page.
Information: Bob Rosenberry, Shrimp News International, 10845 Scripps Ranch Boulevard, #4, San Diego, CA 92131 USA (phone 858-880-2580, fax 858-368-5100, email bob@shrimpnews.com, webpage www.shrimpnews.com).
Information: John Cooksey, World Aquaculture Conference Management, P.O. Box 2302, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA (phone 760-751-5005, fax 760-751-5003, email worldaqua@aol.com, webpage www.was.org).
Source: Bob Rosenberry, Shrimp News International, November 26, 2006.
United States
Texas--Job
NaturalShrimp International, a shrimp farm near San Antonio, has a position open for an aquaculture technician. Requirements: High School diploma (B.S. in aquatic sciences preferred), technical training in aquatic biology and/or aquatic chemistry, English-speaking USA citizens only. Work experience in commercial aquaculture may substitute for education. Closing Date: December 15, 2006.
Information: Joe King, General Manager, NaturalShrimp International (phone 830-762-3200, email joeking@naturalshrimpinternational.com, webpage http://www.naturalshrimpinternational.com).
Source: AquaNic (The Aquaculture Network Information Center, a gateway to the world's electronic aquaculture resources, http://aquanic.org/index.htm). Jobs Directory (http://aquanic.org/jobs/search.asp, in cooperation with the WAS Employment Service, search on "shrimp"). Aquaculture Technician (http://aquanic.org/jobs/jobinfo.asp?jobid=2162). November 12, 2006.
Click here for previous Free News reports in 2006
