Country Reports

Australia
Bans Thai Shrimp, All Shrimp

On Monday, December 4, 2006, Australia banned all shrimp imports after the State of Queensland detected whitespot syndrome virus in a number of shipments from Thailand, according to Apiradi Tantraporn, the director-general of the Thai Foreign Trade Department. She said, "The ban should take effect only where the disease is found, not from the entire country." Ekapoj Yodpinij, president of the Shrimp Farmers Club of Surat Thani, which represents Thai shrimpers, noted that the Australian government had announced a blanket ban on shrimp not only from Thailand but also from all countries.

Source: The Bangkok Post. Shrimpers cry foul over new Australia ban (http://www.bangkokpost.com/Business/07Dec2006_biz99.php). Phusadee Arunmas. December 7, 2006.


Australia
Previous Item "Totally Incorrect"

Harry Peters, Chairman of the Seafood Importers Association of Australasia, Inc., says the above report is "totally incorrect". Peters says the state of Queensland has not banned shrimp imports. He says the report of whitespot-infected shrimp in supermarkets is a total untruth and that no validated positive tests of whitespot-infected shrimp have been confirmed anywhere in Australia.

But Peters admits that the controls that are likely to go into effect in February 2007 would probably prevent the importation of whole raw shrimp and add such onerous testing costs to processed shrimp that volumes would be dramatically reduced and prices would certainly rise significantly. In fact, with only one or two laboratories capable of doing the tests, trade would cease within weeks. Almost all the raw shrimp currently sold in Australia is imported.

Peters said: "Queensland fishermen and shrimp farmers have been lobbying furiously for this outcome, with the help of many influential politicians in regional areas, for the past year. ...The crux of the matter is a concern by Biosecurity Australia that anglers could purchase imported raw frozen shrimp for bait and thus potentially introduce exotic viruses to local shrimp populations. ...For disease to enter this way, an angler would have to acquire shrimp that were infected, very unlikely given that we already test for these viruses before being permitted entry. The angler would have to ignore warnings advising not to use imported shrimp as bait, and then somehow get that bait to make contact with a live shrimp (not the target species for angling), all before the potential disease is diluted by water or the bait is consumed by fish (which wouldn't be affected by the disease). Even if a shrimp did make contact with the bait, the risk of a viral disease spreading in a healthy, wild population is extremely low, and any 'sick' shrimp would immediately fall prey to fish. The probabilities at each of these stages diminish so much that the risk is infinitesimal, which is why these diseases have never reached here despite thousands of tons of shrimp being imported over the past decade. Most scientists acknowledge this."

The Government intends to introduce the new measures immediately after the 90-day consultation period ends in February 2007.

Sources: 1. Email to Shrimp News International. Subject: Re: FW: [shrimp] News = Australia Bans Shrimp Imports. From: Harry Peters (harryp@marineproduct.com.au). December 9, 2006. 2. SIAA (Shrimp Importers Association of Australia) Media Release. Prawn Prices to Skyrocket. December 4, 2006.


Bangladesh
Antibiotic Testing Equipment

The installation of equipment to detect antibiotics in shrimp has been delayed by political and economic turmoil. Many foreign experts won't travel to Bangladesh because of the turmoil.

Source: The Financial Express. Editorial/Economic dangers from weird politics (http://www.financialexpress-bd.com/index3.asp?cnd=12/4/2006&section_id=5&newsid=45627&spcl=no). December 4, 2006.


China
Shandong Province

Through September 2006, China's Shandong Province (in northern China on the Gulf of Bohai) produced 58,000 tons of Penaeus orientalis from about 63,650 hectares of ponds. Compared to the same period in 2005, production was up about eight percent.

Production of white shrimp (P. vannamei) in freshwater increased to 11,390 hectares, up about 670 hectares from 2005. Marine culture of white shrimp saw a large increase in places like Tsingtao, which pushed total production of white shrimp in the province to over 30,000 tons.

Sources: 1. Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service). Shangdong Province boosting shrimp output, sees higher price, increased profit to farmers. Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com). November 28, 2006. 2. Bob Rosenberry, Shrimp News International, December 2, 2006. The species names are my guesses, and I made some other guesses.


India
Monodon and Low Salinity

This exchange took place on the Shrimp List in early December 2006:

Laurence (ecotao@yahoo.com): What's the lowest practical salinity level for growing Penaeus monodon intensively (6 to 8 tons per hectare per crop)? Is anybody doing it below 10 parts per thousand salinity, below 5 ppt or below 2 ppt?

Statish (skbodapati@yahoo.com): It is possible to grow P. monodon at almost zero salinity. Here in India low-salinity shrimp farming (less that 5 ppt) has been practiced for at least 10 years. But average production per hectare is around 3 to 4 tons. Hatcheries on the east coast acclimatize postlarvae (PL-13 and larger) to zero salinity before shipment. There's no problem growing monodon in freshwater, but a couple of years back Japanese importers said that they had a muddy smell. That problem has been rectified with better culture practices. In our observations, we found that the success ratio in low saline waters is phenomenal when compared with brackish waters.

Laurence (ecotao@yahoo.com): Thanks for the information. What sort of survivals are achieved at 3-4 tons and 5-8 tons?

Statish (skbodapati@yahoo.com): Survival is based on many factors, not just salinity. With direct stocking (introducing PL-15s to PL-18s directly to the growout pond without a nursery or acclimation phase), the average survival is around 50% to 70%. But if they are transferred from nursery ponds to growout ponds, then the survivals are around 70% to 90%. There are some instances when the farmers got 90% above survivals in 5-8 ton production, but their profit margins dropped because of pond management costs, like aeration and probiotics.

Ramjai (padlab@yahoo.com): Low-salinity shrimp farming of P. monodon got started in Bhimavaram, India, over two decades ago, long before low-salinity, P. vannamei farming developed elsewhere in the world. The farmers in Bhimavaram work with very low salinities (0.5 to 2.0 ppt) that have the right mineral content (ionic balance) for shrimp.

That muddy flavor in shrimp farmed at very low salinities is due to blue-green algae, an offshoot of the eutrophication of these waters caused by excess nutrient loading, possibly from old carp ponds. Unless this issue is addressed, it's going to be difficult to produce good quality fish or shrimp from these ponds.

Source: The Shrimp List (a mailing list for shrimp farmers, "shrimp-subscribe@yahoogroups.com"). Subject: [shrimp] P monodon growout salinity. December 4-7, 2006.


India
George Chamberlain, Keynote Speaker at Indaqua

From January 11-13, 2006, in Chennai, the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) of India will sponsor a three-day conference on aquaculture titled "Indaqua". Kuruvilla Thomas, MPEDA marketing director, said that George Chamberlain of the USA would give a keynote address on emerging trends in global prawn and shrimp farming, and that Simon Funge-Smith of the FAO regional office in Bangkok would give a keynote address on the diversification of aquaculture.

Source: The Financial Express. Rural Economy/Aquaculture to get a leg up after 11 yrs: MPEDA (http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=147997). Ajayan. December 4, 2006.


Taiwan
Wants Distributor

Our company was established in Taiwan, in 1986. We provide shrimp hatchery flakes, rotifers, spirulina, Artemia and other feeds. We're looking for an agent to sell our feeds in your country. Information: lanmulin1977@yahoo.com.cn.

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). Looking for the agent of shrimp hatchery feed (http://www.aquanic.org/discuss/_shrimp/00001030.htm). From: lanmulin1977@yahoo.com.cn. December 4, 2006.


Thailand
Production and Currency

On December 7, 2006, Somsak Paneetatyasai, president of the Thai Shrimp Association, said the shrimp export industry might lose up to $280 million because of the strong baht.

Separately, Agriculture Permanent Secretary Banphot Hongthong said, "As the Thai baht strengthens faster than other currencies, exporters may shift the burden to the farmers. They may force down the prices of agricultural products purchased from farmers."

In the first 10 months of this year, Thai shrimp exports rose 25.13 percent to 286,536 tons, valued at just over $2 billion, an increase of 22.86 percent. For the entire year, the volume and value are expected to be 340,000 tons and $2.5 billion.

Source: The Nation. Shrimp export could lose up to Bt10 billion: association chief (http://nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30020984). December 7, 2006.


Thailand
Production of Vannamei Soars, Prices Fall

Somsak Paneetatyasai, president of the Thai Shrimp Association, said 2006 has been a golden year for Thai shrimp production, which is likely to reach 520,000 metric tons. Somsak predicted that production would rise to 625,000 tons in 2007.

Two years ago, Thailand's shrimp production was 360,000 tons, 50 percent of it giant tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) and 50 percent of it white shrimp (P. vannamei). In 2005, 95 percent of production was white shrimp.

The United States is the largest market for Thai farmed shrimp, even though Thai shrimp faces dumping duties of between 5.79% and 6.82% and exporters must purchase surety bonds equivalent to the expected amount of its dumping duties for the year.

An industry source said white shrimp (P. vannamei) farming boomed when the government allowed broodstock imports from Hawaii, USA. Vannamei offers a yield of 12,500 kilograms per hectare per crop, compared to about 3,750 to 4,375 kilos for giant tiger shrimp.

Source: The Bangkok Post. Agriculture/Shrimp sales boom despite strong baht and AD tariffs (http://archives.mybangkokpost.com/bkkarchives/frontstore). December 8, 2006.


United States
Arkansas--Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart has pledged that within three to five years all its wild-caught seafood will meet standards for sustainability set up by the nonprofit Marine Stewardship Council. Founded in 1997, the council grants a blue-and-white label to fisheries that have independent certification of sustainability.

How did this come about? S. Robson "Rob" Walton, son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, was on a scuba-diving trip at Cocos Island off Costa Rica when Peter Seligmann, cofounder of Conservation International, persuaded him to join the sustainability movement. Seligmann told Walton that his generosity wasn't enough to prevent the impoverishment of the oceans. He said, "It is important for us to discuss with the world's largest retailer the issue of supply chain and the impact it has positively and negatively on the resources of the world."

Walton, who is a major Wal-Mart shareholder and chairman of its board of directors, agreed to introduce Seligmann to Wal-Mart Chief Executive H. Lee Scott, Jr. A series of discussions led to a meeting in February 2006 at Wal-Mart's corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, USA. There, company officials announced to a gathering of conservationists and seafood suppliers that Wal-Mart would switch to wild-caught seafood certified by the Marine Stewardship Council.

It also pledged to push for improvements in the way farmed shrimp and salmon, its two most popular items, are raised. "We are the largest seafood retailer in the USA," said Peter Redmond, Wal-Mart's vice president for seafood and deli. "We have a pretty large footprint in everything we do. We have the kind of volume that could help a fishery make the move to sustainability."

Source: TheDay.com. Big Fish Vanishing Rapidly from Sea (http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=5502c53f-9f7d-45ea-a043-7ba1878ff928). By Los Times, Kenneth Weiss. December 4, 2006.


United States
Texas--Aquaculture 2007

If you're looking for information on "Aquaculture 2007", the World Aquaculture Society meeting that's scheduled for February 26 to March 2, 2007, in San Antonio, Texas, go the Society's conference page at http://www.was.org/meetings/ConferenceInfo.asp?MeetingCode=AQ2007.

If you're looking for information on San Antonio or aquaculture in Texas, go to the Texas Aquaculture Association's webpage at http://www.texasaquaculture.org/index.html.

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).

Sources: 1. World Aquaculture Society Website. December 6, 2006. 2. Texas Aquaculture Association Website. December 6, 2006.


Vietnam
Japan Threatens Import Ban

After raising the inspection rate on Vietnam's shrimp to 50 percent and then 100 percent, Japan continued to receive shrimp with antibiotic residues. Now, it has threatened to ban all shrimp imports from Vietnam.

Source: VietnamNetBridge. Vietnamese shrimp exporters may lose Japanese market (http://english.vietnamnet.vn/biz/2006/12/640440/). Phuoc Ha. December 4, 2006.


Vietnam
Selling Shrimp on the Internet

Ho Chi Minh City...Amidst the blinks and beeps of Internet games, Nguyen Minh Chau and Le Long Hoa, shrimp farmers, sit at this Internet cafe combing the web for information to help them broaden their business skills. They are regular customers. Like many farmers in the district, they have been raising shrimp for years, but recently encountered problems with fluctuating prices. After experiencing losses on several crops they concluded that they could only profit if they could set their own shrimp prices, and that wouldn't be possible if they continued selling their product to middlemen. After coming across a newspaper article on how to do business on the web, they decided to pursue customers through the Internet. Chau and Long Hoa now have many new customers and sometimes run out of shrimp. [I could not get their website, www.muabanraovat.com, to open.]

Source: VietNamNews. Farmers visit internet cafes for training, opportunities (http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01AGR021206). December 4, 2006.

Click here for previous Free News reports in 2006