Country Reports
 

Australia

Total Shrimp Consumption, 45,000 Metric Tons

The Australian Prawn Farmers Association estimates the country’s total shrimp consumption in 2008 at 45,000 metric tons—20,000 tons of it imported, 20,000 tons fished and about 4,000 tons farmed.

Source: The Australian.  One week of the year when prawns are king.  Asa Wahlquist and John Stapleton.  December 22, 2008.

Belize

Cleaning the Effluent from Shrimp Farms

The Inventor’s Club Belize Project of 2009 has created a website specifically designed to find a cost-effective way of cleaning up the effluent from shrimp farms in Belize.  All phases of the project will eventually be posted to the site.

Belize has been held up as a worldwide leader of sustainable shrimp aquaculture, but specific problems remain within Belizean shrimp aquaculture (http://www.worldwildlife.org/cci/aquaculture_projects2.cfm).  Research conducted by Brooksmith Consulting on behalf of the World Wildlife Fund during 2008 shows that the effluent from Belizean shrimp farms generally fails to meet national wastewater standards (T. Smith, Belizean Shrimp Aquaculture: 2008 Status and Review, World Wildlife Fund).  Shrimp aquaculture operations have been associated with negative impacts on seagrass and water quality, especially in coastal lagoons.  Environmental impacts associated with Belizean shrimp aquaculture include coastal eutrophication, erosion and threats to tidal creeks and lagoons.  Coastal lagoons have experienced sedimentation, heavy nutrient loading and loss of seagrass.

Nonetheless, an eco-certification project in Belize has been partially successful in correcting many of the problems.  Settlement pond construction and mangrove planting have already begun in direct response to eco-certification incentives.  These efforts affect approximately 77% of overall shrimp production and 92% of shrimp produced in Placencia Lagoon.  Verification projects for local mitigations have been approved by the World Wildlife Fund for 2009.  Local NGOs have participated in discussions about shrimp aquaculture and monitoring, and local activists have expressed optimism about the long term trajectory of the environmental sustainability of shrimp farming in Belize (Smith, 2008).  The Belize Shrimp Grower’s Association has recently endorsed the environmental work of local NGOs and considers them working partners.

Unfortunately, the Belizean model has not been embraced by WWF’s International Shrimp Dialogue.  As yet, no data from critical habitats affected by farms has been included among the accepted criteria for shrimp farm eco-certification.  No mechanisms for feedback from independent local scientists or communities affected by shrimp farming has been allowed into the criteria.  As a direct result of these exclusions, global environmental groups such as the Mangrove Action Project (MAP) have spoken out repeatedly against the eco-certification movement.

The Belizean experience suggests that local participation in eco-certification is possible, necessary and attainable, and that significant and measurable improvements in environmental quality can be accomplished in this manner.  Yet, WWF’s International Shrimp Dialogue considers incorporation of the specific environmental concerns and data from coastal communities beyond its reach.  It is this exclusion of ecological data that has resulted in the rejection of shrimp eco-certification by key environmental groups and green-oriented buyers.  As yet no increased market value exists for eco-certified shrimp.  The lack of an economic incentive limits the ability and interest of shrimp producers to invest in green technologies and effectively short-circuits the potential benefits of the entire shrimp eco-certification movement.

The Inventor’s Club project seeks to address specific environmental problems on Belizean shrimp farms by developing cost-effective means of improving effluent water quality.  It will accomplish this goal by recycling the nutrients in pond effluent into feed for juvenile shrimp.

Substrates used for peiphyton growth will include Aqua Mats (a substrate for shrimp farms), arrays of PVC pipes, and oyster culture strings.  Local shrimp producers have donated the use of 100,000 Aqua Mats.  Boats will be provided by the Southern Environmental Association, a Belizean Environmental NGO.  A verification project from the World Wildlife Fund will set up a continuous water quality monitoring station to monitor the efficacy of this and other mitigation projects.  Monitors will be linked to an international server in Peru for display of real time data.  The Urbana University High School Inventor’s Club in the USA and an Independence High School Environmental Biology Class in Belize will monitor and participate in the implementation and design of the project.  Results will also be transmitted to the International Dialogue on Responsible Shrimp Aquaculture as an example of community-based monitoring, cooperation and mitigation of measurable environmental effects of shrimp farming.  Project data will be suitable for peer review and publication.

Source: Inventor’s Club Belize Project 2009.  Defining the problem.  T. Brook Smith.  December 20, 2008.

Brazil

Cage Culture

Abstract: In the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, the shrimp fishery for Penaeus paulensis in Patos Lagoon is declining, so researchers are encouraging the local people to grow shrimp in enclosures.  These systems have many advantages over the traditional pond-based farming systems because land, pumping and aeration are not required.  The shrimp feed on the natural productivity of the water and the pens can be constructed from inexpensive materials.  This paper reviews the farming of P. paulensis in pen enclosures.  Particular emphasis is placed on the development of culture systems, social and environmental impacts, constraints and perspectives.

Source: SeiELO.br.  Shrimp farming as an alternative to artisanal fishermen communities: the Case of Patos Lagoon, Brazil.  Ronaldo Olivera Cavalli (Departamento de Oceanografia, Estação Marinha de Aqüicultura, Fundação Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, CP-474, 96201-900 Rio Grande - RS - Brazil), Wilson Wasielesky Jr., Silvio Peixoto, Luís Henrique da Silva Poersch, Marcos Henrique Silva Santos and Roberta Borda Soares.  No Date, originally published in the Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology.  Volume 51, Number 5,  September/October 2008.

Brazil

Bio-floc Systems

We maintain an indoor, biosecure, shrimp research farm that includes several experimental bio-floc systems.  We are developing an intensive culture system for shrimp, prawns and other crustaceans.  We do research and market a number of bacterial products that support healthy bio-floc systems.

Source: Email to Shrimp News International from Dineo Silverio (dineo@brturbo.com.br) on December 19, 2008.

China

Shrimp Production in 2007

On November 30, 2008, at the Global Technical and Trade Conference on Shrimp in Guangzhou, Li Jianhua, head of the Fishery Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, said China produced 1.26 million tons of shrimp in 2007, accounting for around 37% of world production.

Source: HighBeam Research.  China 07 Prawn Output Takes World’s 37%.  December 1, 2008.

India

Collecting Seedstock in the Sundarbans

Collecting shrimp seedstock in the Sundarbans, the large expanse of mangroves on the India/Bangladesh border, was a profitable venture in the 1980s and 1990s, but today, it’s hardly worth the effort:

Squatting on the slippery, clay-covered jetty, her thin cotton saree dripping wet, Meena Sahu scoops water out of her bucket with a broken clam shell, transfers it to a white enameled iron bowl and counts the fine, threadlike shrimp seedlings that are now clearly visible.  “Twenty-five…28… 29…” her lips count silently as she squints into the bowl.  All morning Sahu has been treading the shallows by her island village, Dulki, dragging a fine mesh net behind her.  Sahu is a meendhara, a postlarvae collector.

Like thousands of other women, children and sometimes, even men, in the Sundarbans, she stands in waist deep water for up to 10 hours a day, trawling for bagda meen, black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) seedlings.

Every 1,000 live seedlings she catches will fetch Sahu $1.23 from the arabdar, the local trader, who will then sell them to shrimp farms and wholesale markets for at least twice the price.  The farms will sell the mature shrimp to big export companies that ship them to Japan, the USA and Europe.  Some of Sahu’s seedlings may even wind up in the USA as $25 shrimp cocktails.

It takes Sahu up to six days to catch 1,000 seedlings.  She makes about $4.93 a month from this work, barely enough for one person to scrape by, in this remote region of West Bengal.  “Fifteen years ago I could have got up to $40, for 1,000 seedlings, but it’s different now,” she said.  Market, technology and environmental concerns related to the shrimp industry have changed over the years, leading to a change in the fortunes of meendharas like Sahu.

Shrimp aquaculture in coastal West Bengal dates back over 200 years to a time when it was carried out within a rice/shrimp polyculture system.  Paddy fields were allowed to flood at the beginning of the growing season, permitting young wild shrimps to enter the fields.  After harvesting the rice, the farmers drained the paddies to harvest the shrimp.  In the 1950s and 1960s, this system led to the establishment of permanent ponds, behries, which were stocked almost entirely with wild-caught seedlings.

According to the West Bengal State Government, brackishwater farms cover an estimated 48,000 hectares in the state.  Most of the ponds are lightly stocked traditional ponds; only 4,678 hectares are used for larger-scale commercial farming.

Shrimp farming took off in a big way in India’s coastal states in the late 1980s when the government began exporting shrimp to Japan, the USA and Europe.  Around this time, West Bengal’s exports of fishery products, almost exclusively frozen shrimp, grew exponentially—from about $514 thousand in the 1970s to over $12 million in the 1980s.

The Sundarbans was also a major source of seedstock for the shrimp farms that were sprouting up along India’s eastern and southwestern coastlines.  By the early 1990s, seedstock collection had become a major source of income for many impoverished families in the Sundarbans.  The market was booming and a family could earn more than $143.81 or more a month working its nets.  “The catch varies from season to season, but it is the highest around September and October when high tides bring in seedlings that hatched during the monsoon,” Sahu said.

Source: DownToEarth.org.  Shrimp does not pay.  Maureen Nandini Mitra.  December 19, 2008.

Indonesia

Mangroves Disappearing

The rapid expansion of “traditional shrimp farms” in Lampung Province on the island of Sumatra has damaged mangrove swamps and forced local fishermen into the open sea because of the scarcity of fish along the coastline.  [Editor: “Traditional shrimp farms” means small-scale farms that are hacked out of the coastal mangroves, not the corporate farms that operate legally at locations inland from the mangrove belt.]

“Since the coast is now teeming with shrimp farms, it is difficult to find fish because they have migrated to the open ocean.  Lampung Bay is also full of chemical waste dumped by the traditional shrimp farmers.  We have to sail out to the Indian Ocean and face large waves,” said Sukarja, 50, a fisherman from Punduh Pidada, South Lampung.

Herza Yulianto, director of the Mitra Bentala environmental group, said the use of chemicals to maintain the acidity level of sea water was to blame for the damage to marine life, such as coral reefs and fish.

Traditional shrimp farms have been expanding along Lampung’s coastline at an alarming rate over the past five years.  The impact has not only depleted mangrove forests, but dirt farmers have also converted their land into shrimp ponds.

Suparno, 50, a resident from Bandaragung Village, South Lampung, said: “Mangrove areas have become sparse in the past five years because they have been cleared by outsiders.  As a result, seawater seeps into our farms.  We are forced to convert our farms into shrimp ponds.  Now 90 percent of the farmland here has been converted.”

Data from the Lampung branch of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) indicates that 70 percent of the mangrove forests in Lampung have been damaged as a result of shrimp farming.  Of the total 160,000 hectares of mangroves, 136,000 are considered damaged.

The worst-hit areas are in the traditional shrimp farming regions in the South and East Lampung regencies, where mangrove trees have been unnecessarily cleared to open shrimp farms and build squatter accommodations.

In South Lampung’s coastal areas, remnants of mangrove stubs can still be seen, as the area has now been overrun by shrimp farmers from Banten, West Java and Central Java.

Data from the Lampung Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Office shows there are 1.9 million hectares of mangrove forests along the Lampung coast.  Data from the Fishery Office suggests as much as 736,000 hectares, or 60 percent, have been severely damaged.

Lampung Walhi director Hendrawan said the destruction of the mangroves had not exclusively been caused by the expansion of shrimp farms, but was also due to the lack of willingness on the part of the provincial administration to maintain their existence.

Source: WildSingaporeNews.Blogspot.com.  Shrimp farms hurt mangroves, fishermen in Indonesia.  JP/Oyos Saroso H.N.  December 19, 2008.

Indonesia

CP Prima Says Most “Transshipped” Shrimp Released

CP Prima, the largest shrimp farm in the world, with annual sales approaching $1 billion, has made several statements about the transshipment of Chinese shrimp from Indonesia to the USA.

CP Prima says: Since October 2008, a total of 41 containers have been examined.  Of these, 34 have been released and 7 have been detained on charges that they contain shrimp that was transshipped from China.  The importers of record are being asked to pay a duty of 112.8% on these containers.  CP Prima and its importers are appealing this decision because they do not believe it is legal.

George Basoeki, CP Prima Corporate Communications Manager, said CP Prima—with assistance from the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Decree, the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia, the Indonesian Embassy in the USA and several NGOs—got USA Customs to release 34 containers by supplying documents that proved the shrimp were not transshipped.

CP Prima’s Corporate Communications Officer Evelyne Aprilia said the company, due to the situation in the USA market, acted quickly and immediately to divert some of its shipments to other markets, namely Europe, the Middle East, Japan and other countries in Asia.  Some of the product is being returned to processing plants in Indonesia for re-packaging and re-export.

In 2008, CP Prima produced approximately 86,174 metric tons of shrimp, up 43.52 percent compared with 2007 production of 58,108 tons.

CP Prima Director Taslim said the company is now seeking to increase exports to Europe and other Asian countries and seeks buyers for up to 434 tons of shrimp valued at around $3 million recently diverted from USA markets.

In the past, the United States has accounted for up to 55 percent of Indonesia’s shrimp exports, but now the portion has been reduced to 40 percent.

Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service).  CP Prima confirms 7 containers of shrimp detained by U.S. customs since October, 34 released.  Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com).  December 22, 2008.

Indonesia

CP Prima’s Rating Downgraded, Halts Upgrading of Dipasena

On December 18, 2008, Fitch Ratings downgraded CP Prima’s (PT Central Proteinaprima) long-term foreign currency issue default rating to “B” from “B+”.

According to the agency, the downgrade is based on the expectation that CP’s financial leverage levels will remain high over the medium-term, driven by higher than expected capital spending of $86 million in the first nine months of 2008.

The company had previously projected spending of $65 million in 2008, but it is now forecast at $110 million.

In addition, Fitch said, demand for shrimp was expected to slow, due to the economic recession in the United States, Europe and Japan.

Furthermore, the company’s liquidity is pressured by rising interest costs and increased difficulties in obtaining additional bank funding to finance working capital.

As a remedial step to conserve cash, CP Prima has decided to halt spending on the upgrading of shrimp ponds at PT Aruna Wijaya Sakti (Dipasena).

The negative outlook by Fitch is based on a concern that CP Prima profitability and cash flow will come under further pressure due to the weakening global economy.

Given its low operating margins, a continued decline in frozen shrimp prices could result in significantly higher leverage levels, according to the agency.

The Jiaravanon family, which is the controlling shareholder of the Charoen Pokphand Group, a Thailand-based conglomerate engaged in agro-industrial and aquaculture businesses, has a 72.8 percent interest in CP Prima.

Source: The Jakarta Post.  Fitch downgrades prawn producer CP Prima to negative outlook. December 20, 2008.

Japan

Probiotics and Vibrio Control in Penaeus japonicus

Abstract: In this study, researchers evaluated the effect of probiotics on growth, digestibility and immunity against Vibrio bacteria in kuruma shrimp, Penaeus japonicus.  The experimental shrimp were divided into four groups:

1. The control group was fed the control diet and reared in water without probiotics.

2. The probiotics diet group was fed with a diet containing probiotics and reared in water
without probiotics.

3. The water supply group was fed with the control diet and reared in water with probiotics.

4. The combination group was fed with the diet containing probiotics and reared in water
with probiotics.

Growth in the three groups treated with probiotics was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that in the control group.  Protein, fat and phosphorus contents in the bodies of the shrimp in the probiotics groups were higher, while protein and fat contents in the feces were lower, than those in the control group.  The number of Vibrio bacteria in the shrimp bodies and in the rearing water in the probiotics treated groups were significantly smaller (P < 0.05) than those in the control group.

The tests of air-exposed stress in sawdust and heat stress in water showed that the probiotics treated groups had a higher tolerance for stress than the shrimp in the control group.  Results indicated that probiotics supplied in the diet and/or in the rearing water, improved the growth of the shrimp and the digestibility of protein and fat, controlled the Vibrio bacteria in shrimp bodies and in the rearing water, and therefore shrimp built up stronger resistance to stress conditions.

Source: Aquaculture Science (formerly Suisanzoshoku).  Effect of Probiotics Treatment on Growth, Digestibility and Vibrio Control in Kuruma Shrimp Marsupenaeus japonicus Reared in a Closed Recirculating System.  Hideo Mochizuki (Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Tokyo 108-8477, Japan) and Toshio Takeuchi.  Volume 56, N-3, Page 281, September 2008.

Malaysia

Video of Shrimp Harvest

This eight-minute, You Tube video shows a harvest on an intensive shrimp farm in Sabah, Malaysia.

Source: You Tube.  Sa*Mal Tiger Prawn Farm.  January 4, 2008.

Thailand

Freshwater Prawns

Abstract: The objective of this study was to review the status of freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) production in Thailand, assess the perceived ecological impacts of the industry, and suggest avenues by which farmers might adopt more environmentally sound culture systems.  A socioeconomic and technical survey of 100 prawn farmers was conducted from May 1 to July 31, 2005.  The majority of respondents were male (70%) with an average age of 46 ± 1.  Most farmers (77%) had completed an elementary level of schooling (4 years) and had on-farm experience for an averaged 10 ± 1 years.  Most respondents (92.9%) obtained information about prawn culture from their neighbors and only 19% received formal training.  Monoculture was the dominant system (96%) while the remaining farmers utilized polyculture with prawns and white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei).

Most farmers stocked at densities below 20 animals per square meter and average production was 2,338 kilograms per hectare per year.  Some farmers utilized higher stocking densities and obtained larger harvests.  Additional intensive practices were common, including the use of commercially produced feed, frequent water exchange, aeration and lime and dolomite application.  After the culture period, water was generally discharged directly into canals without treatment.  Average net profits were $3,918 per hectare per year.  The major problems identified were seed supply (67%), disease outbreak (64%), and external pollution (37%).  External pollution was reported to have severe impacts on 16%, moderate impact on 46% and no impact on 38% of farms.  Pollution sources were identified as agriculture (75.4%), aquaculture (39.3%), and industrial and domestic waste (27.9% each).

At the time of this survey the freshwater prawn industry in Thailand was valued at $79 million and ranked third globally behind China and India.  To maintain this level of production, research on alternative practices is necessary to balance adequate environmental benefits and economic returns similar to or better than the current monoculture system.

Source: Aquaculture.  Social, economic, and production characteristics of giant river prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii culture in Thailand.  Vicki S. Schwantesa (vsschwantes@gmail.com), James S. Diana (Aquaculture and Aquatic Resources Management, Asian Institute of Technology, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand) and Yang Yi.  In Press.  2009.

Thailand

CP’s New Biosecure Shrimp Farming System

Adirek Sripratak, president and CEO of Charoen Pokphand Foods, said consumers now have better and safer choices for seafood thanks to CP’s latest state-of-the-art, biosecure, shrimp farming system.

Adirek said the CP has set up its first biosecure farm on a 480-hectare site in Trat, 230 kilometers east of Bangkok.  The farm is divided into four 11-hectare modules, costing $7.2 million each and expected to yield 1,200 tons per module per year.  Each module is run under strict temperature, feeding and ventilation control and has mechanized water treatment and harvesting systems.

Adirek added that CP is planning to expand the project to 12 modules, which would require an additional investment of $86 million.

CP’s vice president for shrimp farming, Sujit Kaewchum, said no chemicals are used during shrimp growout, which takes approximately 125 day.

This hi-tech system, which involves temperature control and automatic feeding, also facilitates year-round production.  Once the project proves successful in Thailand, CP plans to expand it to other countries such as China, which have colder and longer winters.

Adirek added that shrimp, bred under this special system, had already been launched in both domestic and overseas markets at a price that is 10 percent higher than normal produce.

“We are promoting this shrimp as a premium product and believe that it has been priced quite reasonably,” Adirek said, pointing out that it would help boost Thailand’s shrimp exports.

Source: The Nation.  CP boosts standards with new system.  Achara Pongvutitham.  December 23, 2008.

Thailand/India

Dismissed From Review

For the period from February 1, 2007, through January 31, 2008, the USA Department of Commerce cancelled administrative reviews for 166 shrimp suppliers in India and 29 in Thailand because the suppliers had no shipments during the period of review, they were on the list by mistake, or they were on the list multiple times.

Indian companies removed from the review include: AS Marine Industries, Pvt., Ltd.; Gopal Seafoods; Lotus Sea Farms; Marine Food Packers; Ravi Frozen Foods, Ltd.; and Tri Marine Foods, Pvt., Ltd.

Thailand companies removed from the review include: Haitai Seafood Co., Ltd.; Li-Thai Frozen Foods Co.; Merkur Co., Ltd.; Star Frozen Foods Co., Ltd.; and Siam Canadian Foods Co., Ltd.

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).  Nearly 200 firms removed from U.S. shrimp antidumping reviews.  Ben DiPietro (ben.dipietro@intrafish.com).  December 22, 2008.

Thailand

Shrimp Farmers Make Adjustments to Changing Economic Conditions

According to Somsak Paneetatyasai, the president of the Thai Shrimp Association, shrimp farmers have agreed to cut output by 20% in 2009 in an attempt to stabilize prices and adjust to reduced global consumption.

A similar production cut was adopted last year to rein in falling prices, resulting in 2008 output estimated at 490,000 metric tons, down 7.5% from 2007.

Following a 20% production cut, output next year is forecast at 392,000 tons, significantly lower than the 530,000 tons produced in 2007 and 500,000 tons in 2006.

For the first nine months of this year, Thailand’s exports to the USA market contracted by 3.38% to 150,469 tons valued at $1 billion, a drop of 1.39% over 2007.  Export volumes to China, Japan and the EU for the period rose by 75%, 7% and 25%, respectively.

Source: The Bangkok Post.com.  Outlook healthy as shrimpers adjust/Production cuts help prop up prices.  Charoen Kittikanya.  December 17, 2008.

United States

Massachusetts—Aqua Bounty Receives Shrimp Research Grant

Aqua Bounty Technologies, a biotechnology company focused on enhancing productivity in the aquaculture market, has completed an assessment of its AquAdvantage Viral Blocker (VpX) product and decided not to commercialize it.  Aqua Bounty believes the product has merit, but wants to concentrate its resources on the commercialization of its AquAdvantageSalmon.

On December 19, 2008, Aqua Bounty announced that it had received a $100,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to continue its development work on the oral delivery of antiviral dsRNA to shrimp.  Initial tests have shown this product to provide protection for shrimp against whitespot virus, the most lethal and economically destructive disease for the shrimp farming industry.  Aqua Bounty has established collaborations with two companies specializing in oral formulation to help it develop this technology.

Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service).  December 19, 2008 Aqua Bounty to focus on its super salmon in 2009; Entis buys more shares.  Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com).  December 19, 2008.

United States

Missouri—The Global Aquaculture Alliance

Dozens of people representing producers, feed manufacturers, seafood companies and nongovenmenta1 organizations attended meetings on the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) program during GOAL 2008 in Qingdao, China.

At the meeting, Daniel Lee, BAP Standards Coordinator, said an updated version of the BAP shrimp farm standards is due for public review shortly.  It will set the standards for shrimp farms to be certified in clusters and promote the conservation of fish meal and fish oil.

Source: The Global Aquaculture Advocate.  Editor, Darryl Jory (dejry2525@aol.com).  BAP Committee Meetings Report Certification Progress.  Volume 11, Issue 6, Page 6, November/December 2008.

United States

Washington DC—Shrimp Imports Increase in October 2008

USA shrimp imports topped 144 million pounds in October 2008, up 10.1 percent from October 2007, the biggest monthly increase so far this year, according to figures released by the National Marine Fisheries Service during the third week of December 2008.

That brings the year-to-date shrimp import total to more than 1 billion pounds, compared to just over 995 million pounds during the same 10-month period last year.

Shrimp imports are on pace to exceed last year’s 1.23-billion-pound total, which was down about 73 million pounds from the previous year; 2007 marked the first time in a number of years that shrimp imports had dropped.

Thailand remains the No. 1 USA shrimp supplier, exporting 322.6 million pounds through October, down 4.6 percent from a year ago.  Shrimp imports from Ecuador were down 6.8 percent, to 103.6 million pounds.

Indonesia is picking up the slack, shipping 164.2 million pounds of shrimp to the United States through October, up a staggering 51.3 percent from a year ago.

Shrimp imports from China and Vietnam were up 7.2 percent and 17.4 percent, to 88.7 million and 81.5 million pounds, respectively.

Source: SeafoodSource.com.  U.S. Shrimp Imports Jump in October.  December 18, 2008.

United States

Washington State—Shrimp Program for the WAS Meeting in Seattle

At the World Aquaculture Society meeting in Seattle, Washington, scheduled for February 15–18, 2009, there will be several sessions on shrimp farming:

Monday, February 16:      Shrimp Feeding and Nutrition.

Tuesday, February 17:      International Marine Shrimp.
     Environmental Genomics
     Initiative.

Tuesday, February 17:      Shrimp Culture.

Wednesday, February 18: USA Marine Shrimp Farming Program.

In addition, several other session will touch on shrimp farming:

Tuesday, February 16:       Alternative Feedstuffs for Aquaculture.

Tuesday, February 16:       Organic Aquaculture.

Wednesday, February 17:  Development in Marine Baitfish Culture.

Wednesday, February 17:  Genetics and Selection.

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 http://www.was.org).

Source: Aquaculture America 2009 Program Announcement.  Received December 18, 2008.

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