Free News January 12, 2007

Nova Companies Belize Suspends Operations

Nova Companies Belize Limited, touted as the country's largest shrimp farm, has suspended operations due to an ongoing debt crisis and possible foreclosure by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. In July 1998, IFC loaned Nova $6 million. The Taura virus and plummeting shrimp prices precipitated the current crisis. At the end of 2006, Nova employed 550 people--50 full-time staff, along with roughly 250 farm and 250 processing plant workers, whose numbers fluctuate depending on production. IFC has appointed Robert Garcia, a retired general who ran the Novelo's Bus Company during its period in receivership, to take over day to day operations at Nova and to find new investors.

If you have Google Earth (free, but you must download it from Google's website) installed on your computer, you can view Nova Companies Belize Limited at latitude 17°, 35', 25.52" N; longitude 88°, 18', 24.78"W.

News5 Reports on Nova

With the financially strapped Nova shrimp in receivership, it is conceivable that Belize could lose half of its farmed shrimp production. That would be a blow to an industry that was, as recently as just a few years ago, poised to become Belize's number one foreign exchange earner. On January 10, 2007, Stewart Krohn, a reporter for Channel 5 News (Belize City, the leading television station in the country) interviewed Alvin Henderson, secretary of the Shrimp Grower's Association, about shrimp farming in Belize. Here's a summary of that interview:

Stewart Krohn: Are low shrimp prices a cyclical thing or have the low cost producers in Asia like China and Vietnam permanently lowered prices? Can farmed shrimp from Belize compete on international markets?

Alvin Henderson: To the best of my knowledge, every container of shrimp that leaves China has its freight paid for by the Chinese government. That's the kind of competition we're up against. 2006 was a very challenging year for shrimp farming in Belize. It's not only a Nova problem. Other farms have also suffered terribly this year. Shrimp--like citrus and bananas--has become a commodity. The good news is that shrimp consumption continues to increase worldwide. When supply exceeds demand, you will see low prices. Belize must position itself for niche markets that will allow it to stay the course during periods of low prices.

Stewart Krohn: What are some of these niche markets?

Alvin Henderson: Over the last two years, Belize has established a significant presence in the European market: France, Italy and Spain--Spain particularly. It's a niche market. In Spain, for example, forty percent of the country's entire consumption happens during the Christmas season. If you don't get into that market by November 15, you miss the entire year. In 2006, some of our farms missed the deadline and paid a heavy cost. Other niche markets being explored by shrimp farmers include exports to Mexico and specialty processing and packaging.

Stewart Krohn: In the long run, is shrimp going to be a viable part of Belize's economy?

Alvin Henderson: Yes, I have no doubt about that. This is an industry that's not small in terms of the level of capital deployed. We're talking about an industry that has invested over three hundred million Belize dollars.

Stewart Krohn: Legislation has been proposed that will govern the shrimp farming industry. Reportedly, the bill is very, very friendly to the industry, providing lots of subsidies and perks. What does the bill say?

Alvin Henderson: It promotes the industry through a package of incentives, and it regulates the industry.

Help from the Government

On January 11, 2007, Hugh O'Brien, head of the Ministry of National Development, Investment and Culture, said the Government of Belize has contacted Nova and the International Financial Corporation, hoping to reschedule payments and attract investors. One of the government's main concerns is that over three hundred jobs could be lost. Although it cannot invest in the company to save the jobs, it is doing its part in attracting new investors by offering support and development concession.

Sources: 1. Amandala.online. Trouble at Nova--operations suspended (http://www.amandala.com.bz/index.php?id=5291). Adele Ramos. January 5, 2007. 2. News5. Robert Garcia appointed to salvage Nova shrimp farm (http://new.channel5belize.com/archive_detail_story.php?story_id=17730). January 8, 2007. 3. News5. Shrimp growers: many challenges face industry (http://new.channel5belize.com/archive_detail_story.php?story_id=17744). January 10, 2007. 4. LoveFM.com. GOB Expresses Concern about Situation at Nova Shrimp Farm (http://www.lovefm.com/ndisplay.php?nid=5267). January 11, 2007.

Country Reports

Australia
Import Regulations in the State of Queensland

Queensland's shrimp farmers fear their $100-million-a-year industry could be destroyed by the viruses found on imported, raw frozen shrimp.

Jan Jarratt, a member of the Queensland Government, says the industry cannot afford to wait until Biosecurity Australia enacts strong quarantine measures. She wants imported frozen shrimp banned immediately, fearing that the whitespot and Taura viruses could spread into the state's wild and farmed shrimp stocks. She says the threat is so great that the action must be taken now, not after February 21, 2007, when the industry consultation period ends. "We don't want to wait for the 90 days for the consultation period," she said. "We've established the risk.... We would like Biosecurity Australia to take serious consideration of an immediate ban on the importation of these products." Shrimp Farmers Association president Scott Walter supports the Queensland Government's call for an immediate ban. Walter says Australia is one of a handful of countries free of the whitespot and Taura viruses, which could also infect mud crab and swimmer crab stocks.

Source: ABCNewsOnline. Prawn farmers urge ban on raw imports amid virus fears (http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1821415.htm). January 4, 2007.

Australia
Broome Aquaculture Centre

Managed by the Western Australia Fisheries Department, the Broome Aquaculture Centre has a hatchery that sells Penaeus merguiensis seedstock to prospective shrimp farmers. Previously, it supplied P. monodon and P. esculentus seedstock, but the broodstock was expensive to source, so the hatchery switched to merguiensis, available locally with cast nets. Merguiensis broodstock is easy to work with in the hatchery. One problem--its desire to jump out of maturation tanks--was resolved by reducing light levels.

Information: Anthony Aris, Broome Aquaculture Centre, P.O. Box 1380, Broome, Western Australia 6725, Australia (phone 08-9192-9140, fax 08-9193-7558, email anthony_aris@westkct.training.wa.gov.au).

Source: Austasia Aquaculture (www.austasiaaquaculture.com.au). Tim Walker, Editor-in-Chief (AustasiaAquaculture@netspace.net.au). Broome Aquaculture Centre measures prawns and barra success differently. Emma Rudge and Dos O'Sullivan. V-20, Number 5, P-52, October/December 2006.

China
The New Fleshy Shrimp

Since 1997, scientists at the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute (YSFRI) have been working to breed a new variety of Penaeus chinensis, commonly called the "fleshy shrimp". In 2004, after seven generations of selection, they produced a fast-growing strain of the species called "Huanghai No. 1 Line".

Funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, YSFRI recently built a new Genetic and Breeding Center for Mariculture in Qingdao. Fully operational since the spring of 2006, the facility includes a 2,500-square-meter greenhouse with 300, 200-liter fiberglass tanks and 50, 10-to-40-cubic-meter cement tanks for larval culture.

In 2006, 180 full-sib and half-sib lines of P. chinensis were produced and studies were conducted on growth rate and disease resistance.

YSFRI has made significant efforts to popularize the new Huanghai No. 1 Line in the northern provinces of Shandong, Jiangsu and Hebei, and various culture demonstration projects have been carried out.

Over 10,000 selected spawners, overwintered in indoor tanks, were distributed in early March 2006 to several hatcheries for larval production. In Hebei Province, a hatchery produced 100 million postlarvae using 1,000 spawners, while at the Changyi hatchery in Shandong Province, 150 million postlarvae were produced from 1,600 spawners. In 2006, the total pond area stocked with the Huanghai No. 1 Line was over 6,500 hectares. To date, data on growout parameters are normal, and a good harvest is expected.

Source: The Global Aquaculture Advocate (http://www.gaalliance.org). Editor, Darryl Jory (dejry2525@aol.com). Selective Breeding/Genetic Improvements in Fleshy Shrimp Continue in China. Dr. Qingyin Wang (gywang@public.qd.sd.cn), Dr. Jie Kong, Dr. Jian Li and Dr. Weiji Wang (Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Nanjing Road, Qingdao 266071, China). Volume 9, Issue 6, Page 74, November/December 2006.

Mexico
Biosecurity in Sonora

Abstract: Commercial shrimp farming in Mexico began in the early 1970s in the states of Sonora and Sinaloa. Even though shrimp farming is now practiced in other regions of Mexico, Sonora and Sinaloa continue to be the main producers.

This review focuses on Sonora because it is the place where the first attempts to establish regional biosecurity are taking place. From its early beginnings in 1988, the Sonoran shrimp farming industry has grown from approximately 238 hectares and production of 436 metric tons to approximately 18,900 hectares and production of 55,600 tons in 2005.

Throughout its relatively short history, the Mexican shrimp farming industry has been adversely affected by a series of accidental introductions of exotic shrimp diseases. None of the major viral diseases presently affecting the industry is native. The first important disease outbreaks were caused by IHHNV in the late 1980s and early 1990s, forcing the industry to switch from Penaeus stylirostris to P. vannamei. The second wave of major outbreaks occurred in 1995, when the Taura virus was accidentally introduced into Chiapas and Sonora and then spread into other shrimp farming regions of the country. More recently, whitespot virus was introduced in 1999. The industry has learned to coexist with IHHNV and Taura, but whitespot is still a major concern.

During the 2005 growout season, an outbreak of whitespot in the state of Sonora resulted in losses of approximately 14,500 tons. This outbreak was well documented and the mortality data strongly suggests that stocking ponds with whitespot-infected postlarvae may have been one of the most important factors contributing to its occurrence, perhaps even more important than the wild whitespot-infected vectors/hosts already present in the region. This outbreak prompted the industry to reevaluate its disease control strategies.

In an effort to prevent outbreaks due to whitespot and other diseases, Mexican shrimp farmers joined private associations known as "Comités de Sanidad Acuícola" (State Committees for Aquatic Animal Health) supported by membership fees and the state and federal government. Each state where shrimp farming and other aquaculture activities occur has one of these associations. In 2005, a law was passed in the state of Sonora that gives the Sonoran Committee for Aquatic Animal Health (COSAES) the legal authority to enforce sanitary measures that prevent outbreaks caused by high impact pathogens. The farmers favor this law because compliance with biosecurity protocols has been a problem for many of the farms. COSAES is also facing other problems, such as the lack of good epizootiological data. An epizootiological study is needed to determine what are the most important factors triggering the outbreaks in the region. Based on the perceived importance of whitespot-infected postlarvae as one of the main factors, COSAES has implemented a program to ensure a supply of whitespot-free postlarvae. This program includes health status verification of broodstock in hatcheries, intercalibration of diagnostic laboratories and restrictions on intra and interstate traffic of live shrimp. It is recommended that long-term goals should also include development of isolated, biosecure, nucleus breeding centers and establishment of zones, according to OIE (International Office of Epizootics, France) guidelines, to protect those states still unaffected by major viral pathogens, but with high potential for shrimp farming development.

Source: World Aquaculture Society. The CD of the Aqua 2006 Abstracts (Florence, Italy, May 2006). The Mexican Shrimp Farming Industry and the Implementation of Regional Biosecurity. Carlos R. Pantoja (cpantoja@u.arizona.edu) and Donald V. Lightner (The University of Arizona, Aquaculture Pathology Laboratory, 1117 East Lowell Street, Building 90, Room 106, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA). 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).

Mexico
Whitespot in the State of Sonora

According to Luis Carlos Romo Salazar, subsecretary for fisheries and aquaculture in Sonora, there were 31 orders for the inspection of shrimp farms for the whitespot virus in 2006; 19 of them tested positive and were quarantined.

With guidance from the Aquatic Health Committee in Sonora, sanitary actions and protocols have been activated by the Program of Health and Aquatic Harmlessness.

Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service). White spot virus led to quarantine of 19 shrimp farms in Sonora in 2006-2007. Angel Rubio Cañas. Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com). January 5, 2006.

Philippines
Vannamei Permitted

Manila...On January 8, 2006, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap announced the lifting of the ban on the import and culture of live shrimps and prawns, paving the way for the entry of Penaeus vannamei into the country. "We expect the introduction of P. vannamei...to boost our ailing shrimp industry and bring it back to its glory days when production reached a high of 94,000 metric tons in 1994," said Yap.

Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service). Philippines lifts ban on import and culture of vannamei shrimp. Ken Coons. Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com). January 8, 2007.

Taiwan
Nanospheres Made from Shrimp Shells

Scientists in Taiwan are developing a nanoparticle drug delivery system that shows promise as a potential way to administer insulin and perhaps other protein-based drugs by mouth, rather than by injection or nasal sprays.

Hsing-Wen Sung and colleagues at the National Tsing Hua University, the Chinese Naval Academy and the National Health Research Institute point out that stomach acid usually destroys protein-based drugs. That problem has led to broadly based efforts to find ways of encapsulating or otherwise protecting insulin so that it passes through the stomach without damage.

In their new research, scheduled for the January 8, 2007, issue of ACS' Biomacromolecules, a monthly journal, researchers describe loading insulin into nanospheres made from chitosan, a natural carbohydrate polymer material obtained commercially from shrimp shells. It is nontoxic and biocompatible. When given to diabetic laboratory rats, the insulin-loaded nanoparticles successfully reduced blood sugar levels.

Source: Nanotechnology Now. Toward a new oral delivery system for insulin using nanoshell shields (http://www.nanotech-now.com/news.cgi?story_id=19432). January 3, 2007.

Thailand
Exports More Than $2 Billion Worth of Shrimp in 2006

In 2006, shrimp exports were estimated at 340,000 tons worth $2.3 billion. In 2007, they are expected to increase by 20% because of increasing yields of white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei), said Somsak Paneetatyasai, president of the Thai Shrimp Association.

Source: BangkokPost.com. Agribusiness/Market Outlook/Farm exports set to boom this year despite strong baht (http://archives.mybangkokpost.com/bkkarchives/frontstore). Phusadee Arunmas. January 3, 2007.

United States
California--The Shrimp List--Ask Dallas

On Jan 1, 2007, Brian Boudreau asked The Shrimp List: Can anyone in the group recommend a lab in the southeastern USA that is capable of profiling microbial floc?

Dallas Weaver, a shrimp farming consultant and water quality expert, responded: You must have a big pot of money to even consider such a study. To get a meaningful handle on flocs, conventional lab analysis won't tell you much that is of any use. Remember, you can only grow a small fraction (somewhere around 10%) of the bacteria species in the sample, and of those, you can only identify to the species level a fraction of a percent. These are complex ecologies, and we have so little information on each species (let alone strain) that the prospects of proper analysis and ability to make predictions are beyond our capabilities.

The best shot at understanding these systems may come from research on the genetic information on each of the species in the floc.

Unless you have a lot of money, you would be better off observing as many flocs as possible.

Information: Dallas E. Weaver, Ph.D., Scientific Hatcheries, 8152 Evelyn Circle, Huntington Beach, CA 92646 USA (phone 714-960-4171, cell 714-614-3925, email deweaver@surfcity.net, webpage www.scientifichatcheries.com).

Source: The Shrimp List (a mailing list for shrimp farmers, "shrimp-subscribe@yahoogroups.com"). Subject: Re: {Disarmed} [shrimp] microbiology profile. January 1, 2007.

United States
Texas--"Aquaculture 2007"--Feed Short Course

For the two days (February 25-26, 2007) preceeding "Aquaculture 2007" (February 27 to March 2, 2007) in San Antonio, Texas, USA, a practical short course titled "Aquaculture Feed Extrusion, Nutrition and Feed Formulation" has been scheduled. It is a course for new feed mill personnel.

Attendees of the feed short course will receive a complimentary pass to the "Aquaculture 2007" Trade Show and can register for "Aquaculture 2007" at the World Aquaculture Society member rate.

Feed Short Course Program
Sunday, February 25, 2007

Current and Future Market Trends in Aquaculture Feed (Peter Coutteau)

Introduction to Extrusion Technology (Joseph Kearns)

Feed Preparation Technology (Christoph Naef)

Grinding Aquatic Feeds (Mark Heimann)

Feed Pelletization (Mark Heimann)

Drying Aquafeed (Tom Barber)

Feed Short Course Program
Monday, February 26, 2007

Latest Technologies in Absorption Coating by Vacuum (Josef W. Barbi)

Feed Coating and Micro Encapsulation (Jacques C. Wijnoogst)

Production of Feeds for Shrimp (Eric De Muylder)

Environmental Issues: Noise and Odor Control (Jacques C. Wijnoogst)

Applications of Soy Protein Concentrates in Aquafeed (Don Lindsey)

High Fat Extrusion for Aquafeed (Joseph Kearns)

Aquatic Feed Extrusion: Applications of Twin Screw Extruders (Joseph Kearns)

Aqua Feed Quality Control: Chemical and Microbiological Aspects (Els Vanden Berge)

New Extrusion Technology with Online Control of Product Density and Specific Mechanical Energy Input (Christoph Naef)

Aqua Feed Quality: Lipid Oxidation and Palatability (Fernando Valdez)

Aquaculture Feeds: Technologies and Products (Alain Brisset)

Utilization of Soybean Meal in Both Freshwater and Marine Fish Feed Development (Michael Cremer)

Hygienic Feed Preparation--HACCP and GMP (Fernando Valdez)

U.S. Soy Industry's Support to Global Aquaculture: Research and Field Oriented Projects (Michael Cremer)

Registration Fee: Before January 25, 2007, $795; after January 25, 2007, $895. Rate includes short course manuals, lunch and coffee breaks.

Information: Dr. Sefa Koseoglu, President, Extraction and Refining Program Filtration and Membrane World LLC, 603 Southwest Parkway, Unit 23 College Station, Texas 77840 USA (phone 979-764-8360, fax 979-694-7031, email sefa@koseoglu.com, webpage www.membraneworld.com).

Information: Dr. Ignace Debruyne, ID&A, Haverhuisstraat 28, B-8870 Izegem, Belgium (phone 32-(0)51-31-12-74, mobile 32-(0)476-46-07-98, fax 32-(0)51-31-56-75, email aquafeed@scarlet.be).

Source: Aquafind. Aquafind Events Calendar (http://www.aquafind.com/info/calendar.php). 5th Practical Short Course on Aquaculture Feed Extrusion, Nutrition and Feed Formulation. Site visit on January 3, 2007.

Vietnam/Japan
Agree to Cooperate on Antibiotic Issue

Vietnamese and Japanese agencies have agreed to work on a bilateral agreement on the control and safety of seafood [shrimp] traded between the two countries.

This is a result of working sessions between the Vietnamese National Fisheries Quality Assurance and Veterinary Directorate and the Japanese Food and Drug Administration on December 25-28, 2006.

The two agencies agreed to increase the exchange of technicians to help further improve their knowledge and skills in identifying prohibited chemicals and antibiotics in seafood.

The Japanese Food and Drug Administration Agency accepted Vietnam's explanations concerning the contamination of antibiotic residues in seafood as well as its measures to address the matter.

Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service). Vietnam and Japan to create bilateral agreement on seafood safety to address antibiotic issue. Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com). January 2, 2007.