Country Reports

Bangladesh

Global Warming, Salt and Unemployment

As a result of global warming, brackish water from the Bay of Bengal is surging up Bangladesh’s rivers, percolating into the soil and fouling the underground water supply that millions depend on to drink and cultivate their farms.

Slowly, inexorably, salt is making its way to the rice paddies of farmers, destroying their only source of income.  Many have switched to shrimp farming, monetizing the salty water awash over their fields.  In an occupational shift, shrimp farming is becoming more popular than traditional paddy farming, but not without problems.  Because it is less labor intensive than traditional paddy farming, shrimp farming has contributed to unemployment and the migration of landless peasants to the cities.

Source: Lovely Friends 7 Blogspot.  How Global Warming Threatens Millions in Bangladesh.  Amju Chopra.  November 20, 2009.

Bangladesh

The “Acid Test” for Antibiotics

Bangladeshi frozen food exports face a key test in January 2010 when a top European Union team will visit shrimp farms and processing plants to determine whether the country products match the quality required by European consumers.

Exporters and officials have labeled the visit by the European Union Food and Veterinary Office on January 18-29 as the “acid test” for the shrimp farming industry, one of the country’s biggest foreign exchange earners.

“The future of the country’s exports to European Union nations largely depends on the EU Mission’s report card on residue monitoring activities,” said Rafiqul Islam, director general of the Department of Fisheries.

The delegation will check for antibiotics on farms and in processing plants and will review their procedures for controlling antibiotics.

The EU is the largest importer of Bangladeshi shrimp, accounting for nearly 50 percent of its shipments in 2008.  In its 2008-2009 fiscal year, Bangladesh exported $454 million worth of shrimp.  Shrimp farming is a key employer in the country’s poor southwestern coastal region.  Industry sources say the country’s 130 shrimp processing plants and tens of thousands of farms employ over one million people.

Source: The Financial Express.  Shrimp Exports Face Key Test in Jan.  Monira Munni.  November 24, 2009.

Ecuador

Register or Else

Since September 2008, Ecuador has had a new Constitution that is slowly modifying the country’s legal framework.  On February 17, 2009, the National Assembly approved the “Ley Organica de Soberania Alimentaria” (Organic Law of Food Sovereignty).  Article 16 of that law says: “The lands that were illegally exploited and occupied by shrimp farmers and aquaculture companies will be reverted to the government in order to guarantee the processes of recovery and replanting of mangroves.”

That law was partially vetoed by President Rafael Correa who proposed: “The land illegally occupied and operated by natural or legal people, shrimp farms and aquaculture companies will be reverted to the government if they do not regularize [register with the government] their situation in one year, in accordance with the current norms on this matter, with the purpose of guaranteeing the processes of repopulation and recovery of the mangroves.”

The government will protect artisan fishermen and community collectors and will stimulate the adoption of sustainable practices of reproduction in captivity of species living in the sea, rivers and mangroves.  It prohibits the industrial exploitation of these species in sensible and protected ecosystems.

If the shrimp farmers do not register their farms, the farms will be taken over by the government.

In 2006, only 148,230 hectares of Ecuadorian mangroves were left.

Local communities estimate that more than 150,000 hectares of coastal areas were invaded and used for shrimp farming.

Others estimate that 27% of coastal mangroves and salinas have disappeared since 1969.

Information: John Cooksey, World Aquaculture Conference Management, P.O. Box 2302, Valley Center, California 92082, USA (phone 1-760-751-5005, fax 1-760-751-5003, email worldaqua@aol.com, webpage https://www.was.org).

Source: The Abstracts of World Aquaculture 2009 (on CD).  Status of Mangrove Forests in Ecuador.  Daniela Espinoza (fucobi@gmail.com), Acacia Alcivar-Warren, Aracely Alcivar, Miriam Alcivar and Sofia Figueroa (Fundación para la Conservación de Biodiversidad Acuática y Terrestre, Guayaquil, Ecuador).  Veracruz, Mexico, September 2009.

Ecuador

El Niño

El Niño is expected to continue and last  at least into the Northern Hemisphere spring of 2009-2010.

Oceanic and atmospheric conditions are updated weekly on the Climate Prediction Center website (El Niño/La Niña Current Conditions and Expert Discussions).  The next ENSO Diagnostics Discussion is scheduled for January 7, 2010.  To receive an email notification when the monthly ENSO Diagnostic Discussions are released, send an email message to ncep.list.enso-update@noaa.gov.

Source: El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion.  Climate Prediction Center.  December 10, 2009.

India

Job—Aqua Feed Formulator

Chandrasekar (aqua@omanfisheries.com) posts: If you’re interested in the above position, contact rena@boddingtonconsuting.com.

Source: The Shrimp List (a mailing list for shrimp farmers).  Subject: Aqua Feed Formulator.  December 7, 2009.

India

Growing Marine Shrimp in Saline Ground Water

Scientists at the Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE) in Mumbai have developed technology for farming giant tiger shrimp at inland locations using saline ground water.  Normally, tiger shrimp cannot survive in saline ground water because of the ionic differences between it and seawater.  CIFE scientists, however, have developed cost-effective technology to manage the iconic balance and have successfully grown crops of tiger shrimp.  In 2008, trials produced 661 kilograms per hectare in 110 days, with average survivals of 65%.  In 2009, trials produced 1,340 kg/ha with survivals of 84% in 110 days.  These results equal the production and survival rates in coastal regions.

In India, around 6.1 million acres, most of it unfit for any other kind of agriculture, are affected by saline soils, and the problem is increasing at an alarming rate, especially in the northwestern states.  The technology developed by CIFE offers a viable solution for profitably managing the problem of soil and water salinity and simultaneously providing reasonable employment opportunities to farmers.

Source: FNB News.  CIFE Scientists Develop Technology for Marine Shrimp Farming in Inland Water.  Mamata Chanda.  November 23, 2009.

Malaysia

Blogger Writes about the Shrimpz Prawn Farm

The Langkawi Archipelago is a cluster of ninety-nine islands off the northwest coast of Malaysia, just south of the border with Thailand.  Langkawi Island, noted for its beautiful views, is the most developed in the group.

A blogger writes: During my recent trip to Langkawi Island, I was lucky enough to locate a good spot, Shrimpz Prawn Farm, which I insist you visit on your next trip to Langkawi Island.

Shrimpz Prawn Farm serves fresh shrimp [I could not tell if the blogger was talking about freshwater prawns or marine shrimp, but from his pictures of the cooked animals, I guessed they were shrimp?], handpicked from some 300 acres of shrimp ponds and cooked to your liking!  They are served at wooden gazebos that overlook the glistening waters of the sprawling shrimp farm.

Information: Shrimpz Restaurant and Sea Breeze, Mukim Ulu Melaka, Jalan Bukit Malut, 07000 Langkawi, Kedah Darul Aman, Malaysia (phone 04-9663211, fax 04-9663220).  Operating Hours: 12:00 to 2:30 p.m. and 6:00 to 10:30 p.m. (closed Tuesdays).

Source: Three Meals of Goodness.  Shrimpz Prawn Farm @ Langkawi.  Timothy.  November 21, 2009.

Mexico

Using Phages to Control Bacteria

Researchers at the National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico are developing a project to determine the uses of phages (viruses that attack bacteria) in shrimp hatcheries.  With researchers at other institutions in northwest and central Mexico and with members of the National Association of Shrimp Larvae Producers, they have a collection of phages with a high therapeutic potential against the main bacteria associated with shrimp larvae mortality and have developed models to evaluate the efficiency of using the technology.

With the use of phages, they have produced Vibrio-free Artemia and reduced infections caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus and V. harveyi, the main causes of larval mortality in shrimp hatcheries.

The technology also has potential for controlling bacterial diseases during shrimp growout, where diseases caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus, V. alginolyticus and V. harveyi are common.  During growout, the biggest challenge would be producing the large volumes of phages that would be necessary.

Source: Panorama Acuicola Magazine (celebrating 15 years of publication).  Editor Salvador Meza García (direcciongeneral@design-publications.com).  Phagotherapy: An Alternative to Fight Infections in Shrimp Production?  Sergio F. Martinez Diaz.  Volume-15, Number-1, Page-26, November/December 2009.

Mexico

Desert Shrimp Farming

The New Aquaculture is journalist Whit Richardson’s blog.  With the help of a fellowship from the International Center for Journalists, he uses it to track aquaculture’s move to the open ocean and what that means for the industry, the oceans and mankind.

In this report, however, Richardson comments on a land-based shrimp farm in Sonora:

I visited a traditional shrimp farm while I was in Sonora.  To get there, we drove away from the coast through a desert landscape with no paved roads, just wide tracts of tread-marked sand.

When we arrived, the shrimp farm was barren.  The shallow ponds where they raise the shrimp were sandy patches with cows grazing the small amount of green scrub.  The farm had been damaged during Hurricane Jemena, which hit the Sonora coast in early September 2009.

The 45-hectare farm, owned by the Luebbert family, is working on getting back on line.  I found the farm’s manager, Ricardo Loreto, working on the pumps that fill and circulate the ponds with ocean water.

Loreto says shrimp farms in Sonora are struggling because of the low price for shrimp and the high cost of feed.  Feed, he says, constitutes as much as 70% of the farm’s expenditures.  A ton of feed costs $850 and the shrimp need about 350 tons per cycle, which lasts 90 to 110 days.  The farm yields about 180 tons of shrimp per crop.  By my math, that means it takes roughly two tons of feed for every ton of shrimp produced.

Source: The New Aquaculture (“A Journalist’s Exploration of Aquaculture’s Evolution”).  Whit Richardson.  Desert-Cum-Shrimp Farm.  November 14, 2009.

Netherlands

Heiploeg—The Largest Shrimp Processing Plant in Europe

The Heiploeg shrimp processing plant in the town of Zoutkamp is by far the largest in Europe.  It sources shrimp from all over the world.

Information: Heiploeg (phone +31-595-40-55-55, fax +31-595-40-23-54, email info@heiploeg.nl).

Source: FIS United States.  The Largest Shrimp Factory in Europe.  Margaret Stacey (editorial@fis.com).  November 24, 2009.

Panama

Shrimp Farming in Central America

At the World Aquaculture Society Meeting in Veracruz, Mexico (September 2009), Bolivar Martinez, owner of Farallon Aquaculture, a Panama-based company with shrimp hatcheries and farms in Central America, gave an excellent slide presentation on the status of shrimp farming in Central America.  It contains maps, tables, graphs and country-by-country statistics on production in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Panama.

Click here to download the full Power Point Presentation.  It’s a big file and a slow download.

Information: Bolivar Martinez, Farallon Aquaculture (email bmartinez@farallonaquaculture.com, webpage http://www.gfarallon.com).

Source: Situación Actual de la Industria de Camarones de Cultivo en Centroamérica (a Power Point slide presentation).  Bolivar Martinez.  Presented at the World Aquaculture Society Meeting in Veracruz, Mexico, September 2009.

Saudi Arabia

National Prawn Company’s New Video

For a new ten-minute video of National Prawn Company’s shrimp farming operation on the Red Sea, click on the link in the Source below.

Source: YouTube.  National Prawn Company Antibiotic Free Quality Fresh Frozen White Shrimp Farming Aquaculture.  November 16, 2009.

Taiwan

Mitten Crabs, $16 Each

Referred to as the mitten crab because of the dark cuff halfway up its claws, the drab-looking grey crab is about ten centimeters across and is renowned for its buttery golden roe and dense white meat.

In October 2006, Taiwan’s Department of Health banned imports of mitten crabs from China, the only place in the world where they were farmed, because of antibiotic residues (nitrofurans) in the crabmeat.

Now Taiwan has eleven mitten crab farms in northern Taipei County, where the subtropical climate is similar to that of Yangcheng Lake in Mainland China’s eastern Jiangsu Province, where most of China’s mitten crabs are farmed.

In Taiwan, Hong Ming-chang, owner of Hong Brothers Aqua Farm, said one of the biggest obstacles to farming mitten crabs in ponds was cannibalism.  “In a smaller environment, the survival rate of the crabs drops to as low as 10 percent,” he said.  “But by reducing the number of crabs in each pond, most farmers are now reporting a rate of 40 to 50 percent.”

While crabs grow well in captivity, the problem of producing seedstock in hatcheries remains a problem.  At present, most farmers import larvae from Mainland China.  Because the larvae are not intended for human consumption, they are not tested for antibiotics.

Several private mitten crab associations are working with academics to develop hatchery and growout technology.  Professor Nan Fan-hua, director of the Traceability Certification and Inspection Center at Keelung’s National Taiwan Ocean University, is upbeat about the future prospects of research in this field.  “Our lab specimens have produced eggs that hatched into swimming-larvae,” he said.  “A commercial platform for this breeding technology is close to being released.”

Wu Yu-de, founder of Miaoli-based Lake Emperor Crab Farm, said, “They sell for around $16 per crab.  This is close to half what an entry-level office worker makes per day.”  According to Wu, local demand in 2004 and 2005 was “insatiable,” with the number of crabs legally imported into the local market totaling eight million.  “If black market imports were included, this would have been much higher.”

Source: Taiwan Today.  Mainland Mitten Crabs Find New Life in Taiwan.  Tien-ying Hsu (email tyhsu@mail.gio.gov.tw).  November 20, 2009.

United Kingdom

Do Lobsters Feel Pain If You Electrocute Them?

The heart-rending sound that a lobster makes as it is boiled alive puts off many a home chef from preparing the dish for a dinner party.  But now anyone can serve up a buttered lobster freshly cooked in their own kitchen, safe in the knowledge that it has been humanely killed.  British entrepreneur Simon Buckhaven has created the CrustaStun, a machine that takes less than a second to efficiently and painlessly zap a lobster, crab or shrimp to death.  The price—at $4,175—may deter some but many an animal lover or restaurant chef will think it a small price to pay for a cruelty-free death.  Plus, according to the manufacturer, the CrustaStun also makes the meat taste better.

Inside one of Buckhaven’s little machines that are going on sale this week, a lobster takes just 0.3 seconds to die, whereas it could live for three minutes in boiling water.  A crab takes even longer to die as it is boiled to death—up to four and a half minutes.

Buckhaven is convinced that there will be a growing demand for his machines.  His company is now offering two types of lobster zappers.  The larger industrial models, which cost over $100,000 are already in use in the UK, Ireland, Norway and Portugal.  Some supermarkets are now stocking lobster—only if it has been killed by electrocution.

Italy—Restaurateur Prosecuted for Keeping Live Lobsters on Ice

Do Shrimp and Lobsters Feel Pain?

Whole Foods Drops Live Lobsters

Source: The Independent.  I’ll Have My Lobster Electrocuted, Please.  Andy McSmith.  November 21, 2009.

United States

Louisiana—Government About to Name Mislabelers

Federal investigators say they are close to obtaining indictments against companies accused of repackaging imported shrimp and passing it off as wild-caught, USA product.  “We expect indictments in the near future,” NOAA agent James Kejonen said on November 18, 2009, adding that the indictments are being sought for violation of the Lacey Act, a federal law that makes it illegal to mislabel fish transported in interstate commerce.

Some industry groups, notably the Louisiana Shrimp Association, have long accused processors of mislabeling shrimp.  Individual shrimpers have for decades expressed distrust of the people they sell to and have leveled accusations of price-fixing and illegal labeling of shrimp.

State Representative Joe Harrison, working closely with shrimpers and processors and others in the industry, is putting the finishing touches on what he described as a “full-blown marketing plan”.  “We are doing an inspection system...,” he said.  “The branding, the quality controls, everything that would remedy this situation.  I will be in Washington, taking this plan there and getting our congressional delegation behind it.”

Source: DailyComet.com.  Illegal Shrimp Packaging Case Moving Forward.  John DeSantis (john.desantis@dailycomet.com).  November 20, 2009.

United States

Ohio—YSI Instruments, Free Booklet on Aeration

For a 76-page PDF booklet on aeration and dissolved oxygen, click here.  When the page opens, type “handbook” into the search window, and then, in the window that opens, click on “YSI The Dissolved Oxygen Handbook”.  Nicely laid out with lots of color pictures, charts and tables, it contains information on:

• Dissolved Oxygen Sensors

• Comparing Optical and Electrochemical Sensing Technologies

• Measuring Dissolved Oxygen

Information: YSI Incorporated.

Source: The Dissolved Oxygen Handbook.  YSI Incorporated.  September 2009.

United States

Washington DC—Food Safety Bill

On November 18, 2009, a Senate committee unanimously approved a much-awaited overhaul of the nation’s food safety laws, though it gave little hint of how it would pay for the sweeping but costly reform of the Food and Drug Administration’s system for protecting much of what the nation eats and drinks.

Iowa Democratic Senator Tom Harkin, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said there’s little chance the food bill will hit the Senate floor until early 2010 because health care legislation is a higher priority.

Harkin’s committee approved the legislation with only minor tweaks, including authorizing the federal government to pay for beefing up states’ food safety capabilities, adding whistle-blower protections and requiring the government to take into account organic standards and other factors in writing food safety rules.

Both the Senate bill and a parallel bill approved earlier by the House would significantly upgrade the FDA’s regulatory powers, empowering it to order a food recall on its own authority instead of merely requesting that a producer institute one.

But in other ways, the Senate measure, sponsored by Senator Dick Durbin (Democrat, Illinois), gives the FDA fewer powers and is considered friendlier to the food industry.

Harkin told reporters he wants to get cost estimates for the legislation from the Congressional Budget Office before deciding how to propose paying for the expanded regimen of product tracking and inspections called for in the legislation.  Both he and Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi, the committee’s ranking Republican, spoke against levying user fees on the food industry.

The House-approved food safety bill would cost an estimated $3.7 billion over five years, partly paid for by a $500 annual fee on food processing facilities.

Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service).  Senate Panel Approves Reform Bill to Expand FDA Powers But How to Pay for It Remains a Question.  Ken Coons (phone 1-781-861-1441, email kencoons@seafood.com).  Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 1-781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com).  November 19, 2009.

United States

Washington State—Ken Talley Reports on USA Shrimp Imports

In the shrimp business, price is king.  It makes little difference whether or not it’s imported shrimp or shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico.

Wholesale and ex-vessel prices continue to sink as the year progresses.  The one indisputable effect has been to keep shrimp on the front burner in retail stores across the nation.  Product is moving as consumers search out value.

Shrimp imports show that supply is not much of a factor in pricing.  While volume is down from last year through the third quarter, prices have not responded by moving up.

Source: Seafood Trend Newsletter (independent coverage of the seafood market since 1984), 8227 Ashworth Avenue North, Seattle, Washington 98103-4434, USA (phone 1-206-523-2280, fax 1-206-526-8719, email seafoodtrend@aol.com).  Editor, Ken Talley.  November 23, 2009.

Vietnam

Shortage of Shrimp

The shortage of shrimp continues in the Mekong Delta.

Nguyen Ngoc Tai, deputy director of Kim Anh, Ltd., a shrimp processor in Soc Trang Province, said his company can only purchase ten tons of shrimp a day, substantially lower than the 50 tons a day he was purchasing just one month ago.  Prices have increased 10 to 20 percent for large shrimp and 5 to 10 percent for small shrimp, compared to last month, he said.  Many processors in the Mekong Delta said they will have to buy shrimp at inflated prices.  Soc Trang Province produced 55,000 metric tons of shrimp in 2009, ten thousand tons less than previous years.  Now six of the province’s nine processing plants are running at less than full capacity.

Nguyen Van Khoi, deputy director of Soc Trang Agriculture and Rural Development Department, said the total shrimp output in the Mekong Delta provinces this year declined by 30 percent compared to previous years.

Pham Anh Dao, head of the Phu Cuong Processing, Import and Export’s business division, said her company was continuously short of shrimp and the company’s factory was operating at 50 percent of capacity.  Dao said by the end of this year and at the beginning of next year, the lack of shrimp would be even more serious because many farmers do not have the capital to finance new crops.  Instead, shrimp processors may be forced to import shrimp from other countries, like India and Indonesia!

Source: Vietnam News Agency.  Processors Now Face Shortage of Shrimps.  November 23, 2009.

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