CP Foods’ New Biosecure,
Intensive Shrimp Farms

The Charoen Pokphand Food Public Company, Ltd. (CPF), is a multi-national diversified agroindustry and food company listed on Thailand’s stock exchange.  CPF’s mission is to create a global food franchise, a “Kitchen to the World”, according to its slogan.

The farming, processing and marketing of shrimp is one of CPF’s biggest businesses.

Hosted by the Royal Thai Government Department of Agriculture, a delegation of ten Australians associated with the seafood industry recently participated in an intensive eight-day, fact-finding tour of Thailand’s shrimp farming industry.  Dos O’Sullivan, who writes about shrimp farming for Austasia Aquaculture magazine, was among the delegates and reported on CPF’s new, biosecure shrimp farms in the December 2008 issue of the magazine.

Broodstock: CPF has worked with 100% domesticated broodstock (Penaeus vannamei) for more than five generations.  Broodstock must be a minimum of seven months of age and 40 grams before being shipped to one of CPF’s maturation facilities.  A typical maturation facility holds 1,400 broodstock, all certified to be specific pathogen free (SPF) for all the main viruses (YHV, GAV, WSSV, TSV, MBV, HPV, IHHNV and LPV).  All CPF broodstock are also specific pathogen resistant (SPR) for the TSV virus and selectively bred for high growth.

Broodstock are grown in recirculating, biosecure raceway systems, and every three months they are sampled and tested for each virus by both PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and histological examination.  All broodstock farms are backed up by duplicate facilities in case viral contamination occurs.

Ready-to-spawn females are collected nightly and placed in mass spawning tanks.  Hatch rates are generally better than 60% with total nauplii per spawn ranging from 120,000 to 190,000.  Nauplii are collected and washed before counting and stocking into nursery tanks.

Hatcheries: CPF operates eight hatcheries (along with some smaller satellite hatcheries) that produced over 22 billion SPF/SPR white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) postlarvae in 2007, 45% of the postlarvae stocked in Thailand.  At a typical hatchery, water from the Gulf of Thailand is pumped through a sand filter into a settling pond and then into a second reservoir where it undergoes chlorination and ozonation before storage in a final reservoir.

Antibiotics are not permitted in CPF hatcheries.  Postlarvae sales were expected to increase 10 to 25 percent in 2008.  On average CPF hatcheries operate with a 60% survival rate from nauplii-5 to PL-10.

Postlarvae that are ready for shipment to farms undergo a final quality and health check that includes a check of gill development and a test for stress resistance.  For the stress test, salinities are dropped from 30 parts per thousand to 5 ppt, and the PLs are evaluated for movement after one hour.  PLs that are not upright are considered weak.  For postlarvae to pass the test a score of at least 95% strong shrimp is required.  Health checks include PCR testing for known viruses and a microbiological check for Vibrio.  Only PLs that pass the quality control stage are shipped to CPF’s farms and customers.

Farms: CPF shrimp are produced on farms located in each of the three major shrimp growing regions in eastern, central and southern Thailand.  Altogether, CPF has 2,000 hectares of ponds, ranging from 0.4 to 1.2 hectares.  Postlarvae are stocked in growout raceways with a water temperature of 29°C at 120/m².  They take an average of 85 days to reach market size of 25 grams, representing a 45% increase in growth rate since 2005.

The 90-hectare Rayong 3 farm in eastern Thailand is a typical CPF farm that has been operating for 20 years.  Located in an estuarine area approximately five kilometers from the Gulf of Thailand, the farm has 35 hectares of production ponds, l7 hectares of reservoirs, l3 hectares of ponds for primary water treatment and 10 hectares of ponds for waste sedimentation from effluent pond water (where suspended solids are collected and later removed to a 5-hectare sludge pond).  Yes, the area dedicated to water treatment is greater than the area dedicated to shrimp production!  Water can either be discharged from the settling pond to the estuary or pumped back into the farm reservoir system for reuse.

With 2.5 crops per year for each pond, annual production from the Rayong 3 farm is slightly over 1,000 tons, well above the former giant tiger (P. monodon) harvest of 250 tons.

The Six Stages of Farm Production

Pond Preparation: After a crop is harvested, the pond is drained and the sludge is removed to the sludge pond.  Any damage to the 0.5mm thick HDPL liners is repaired and paddlewheel aerators and other equipment are checked and repaired.  Then the pond is left to dry in the sun.  The change-over period between crops is 30-45 days depending on the weather.

Water Preparation: To keep out virus carriers, predatory fish and other competitors, new water is pumped into a settlement pond through a 200 micron filter bag.  The water is then passed to treatment ponds where it is treated with chlorine (>30 ppm) in order to kill pathogen carriers and viruses.

Pond stocking: SPF PLs are stocked at 85/m³.

Feeding: Shrimp are fed three sizes of crumble from day-1 to day-40 and then switched to pellets for the duration of the 110-day growout period.  Feeds are broadcast five times per day starting at 7:00 a.m. and finishing at 8:00 p.m.  Feeding rates are standardized during the first 40 days on the number of PLs stocked; thereafter, feeding trays are used to monitor and adjust the amount of feed that goes into the pond.

Pond Management: Pond management consists of monitoring pH, salinity, nitrogen, alkalinity and transparency.

Harvesting: Harvesting begins when shrimp reach 15.5 grams.  Pond water is drained into a harvest sump, and the shrimp are collected with a fish pump.  After dewatering, they are transported to the processing plant on ice in plastic totes.  CPF operates three processing plants in Thailand, so farms are generally within an hour’s drive of a plant.  Shrimp are either packed in ice or delivered live to the plant.

Next to the Rayong 3 farm is the CPF Rayong Aquaculture Processing Plant, one of the company’s three modern, efficient seafood processing plants.

Information: Siriphan, Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company, Ltd., 6th Floor St. Louis Square, 35-57 Soi Chand 1817, Toongwatdon Sathorn, Bangkok 101201, Thailand (cell 08-1-8-476-449, email siriphan@csloxinfo.com).

Source: Austasia Aquaculture.  Tim Walker, Editor-in-Chief (AustasiaAquaculture@netspace.net.au).  CPF integration provides model for Aussie prawn industry.  Dos O’Sullivan.  Volume 22, Number 4, Page 30, December 2008.

Country Reports

Bangladesh

Tigers Are Killing Postlarvae Collectors in the Sundarbans

Rice farmers in southwest Bangladesh face a bleak future.  Rising sea levels are engulfing their land, destroying their crops and dissolving their homes.  As a result, many small farmers are selling their paddy fields to shrimp farmers.  The trouble is a shrimp farm employs far fewer people per hectare than a paddy farm.  So, many villagers find themselves out of work and without food.  What can they do?  They could go into the nearby Sundarbans, a huge mangrove forest on the India/Bangladesh border and fish for shrimp postlarvae.  Sounds simple enough, but not when you consider that the forest is the home of the Bengal tiger, which is killing shrimp seedstock collectors at an alarming rate.

This is what faces women like Farida Khatun, 35, a mother of four whose own husband was killed by a tiger six years ago.  “He went fishing in the Sundarbans with his brothers,” she says.  “When he was pulling the last net up, he told the others to go on ahead.  A tiger came out of the grass and took him away to the forest.  We never found his body.”  Farida says, “My two oldest sons are in the Sundarbans fishing now.  Of course I worry about them, but we have no alternative.  There are no other jobs, and if they didn’t go, we wouldn’t eat.”

Source: AlertNet.org.  Sea change: rising sea levels in Bangladesh.  Ben Beaumont.  December 24, 2008.

Malaysia

Kedah—Poised to Become the Leading Shrimp Farming State

Following the turnaround of an ailing Kerpan shrimp farm operated by Blue Archipelago Berhad, Dr. Shahridan Faiez, chief executive officer of Blue Archipelago, said with the completion of an integration program by early 2010, the Kerpan operation would begin to develop contract farming relationships with small-scale shrimp farmers in the state.  Shahridan said the company planned to invest about $14 million to repair and upgrade the farm and transform it into a fully integrated aquaculture operation.

Source: The Star Online.  Kedah poised to be a major shrimp-farming state.  Eileen Hee.  December 29, 2008.

Malaysia

Kedah—Blue Archipelago Faces Competition for Site

Tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukary’s consortium is developing a $220 million oil refinery in Kedah and hopes to set up operations on the Kerpan shrimp farm, now known as Ayer Hitam farm, putting some 200 farmers who are finally making money from the 15-year-old venture, once partly owned by the Bin Laden family, out of work.

SKS Development, Sdn., Bhd., a private company linked to the tycoon, is spearheading efforts to buy the 400-hectare shrimp farm, now jointly owned by the Kedah state government and the Finance Ministry.

The state government, which could earn up to $57 million annually from an oil refinery through a five percent royalty deal, is looking to monetize its land assets in view of the looming economic downturn already buffeting the world.

The Kerpan farm is now managed by Blue Archipelago Berhad, a wholly owned unit of government asset manager Khazanah Nasional Berhad.  Blue Archipelago took over management of the farm in January 2008 and plans to invest up to $14 million in capital and operational expenses to refurbish it.  In 2008, the farm’s 216 farmers produced 500 tons of shrimp that generated some $2 million in revenue.  Blue Archipelago expects to triple output and build a processing plant that could export up to $11 million in shrimp products annually.

Sources said the State Government and Finance Ministry have not dismissed the idea of selling the land to the consortium, but Blue Archipelago apparently has a 30-year management contract and first refusal rights to the site.

“It all depends on the Finance Ministry on whether to go for a mega project or stick to the plan to develop agriculture [shrimp farming] and take care of the environment,” said an industry official familiar with the discussions.

Source: The Malaysian Insider.  Kedah oil refinery could fry Khazanah shrimp venture.  December 24, 2008.

Malaysia

Perak—Will the State Legalize Shrimp Farms in the Mangroves?

The Perak Government will not legalize shrimp farms found to be endangering fragile coastlines and mangrove areas, said Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Moham-mad Nizar Jamaluddin.  He said the state was currently only asking some 5,000 shrimp farmers in the state to provide feedback on the status of their farms before evaluating whether it would legalize the industry.

“We are not legalizing it [the industry] now,” he told reporters after receiving an honorary fellowship award from the Institution of Engineers Malaysia in Ipoh recently. “If it is proven that the farms are endangering the shoreline and species, we will not give approval.  We will suggest another place for them,” he said, after S.M. Mohamed Idris, president of Sahabat Alam Malaysia, an environmental group, expressed shock that the government wanted to legalize an estimated 3,000 illegal shrimp ponds in Manjung’s mangrove forests.

Source: Forest Policy Research.  Malaysia: Gov says no more Shrimp farms will be approved in Mangrove forests.  December 29, 2008.

Thailand

Feed Me Pheromones

Pheromones, hormone-like chemicals that plants and animals use to communicate, can be used to induce increased feeding activity in a range of farmed species.

In a three-month trial with white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei), four 0.64-hectare ponds were stocked with 64,000 postlarvae.  Commercial shrimp feed was coated with a pheromone and fed to the shrimp.  The mean weight of 300 shrimp from each pond was measured on five occasions over the 90-day growout period.

The pheromone application produced shrimp that were 30% larger than those in the control group, and they had a significantly faster rate of growth.  The mean weight of the treated shrimp was 9.97 ± 1.94 grams compared to 7.17 ± 1.45 grams for the control group.  In addition, less feed was required in the treated pond, resulting in a lower feed conversion ratio at harvest than for the control pond.

Source: The Global Aquaculture Advocate.  Editor, Darryl Jory (dejry2525@aol.com).  Fish, Shrimp Respond to Pheromone Based Feeding Attractants.  Andrew Moore (PhD, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 OHT, United Kingdom andy.moore@dcefas.co.uk).  Volume 11, Issue 6, Page 58, November/December 2008.

United States

Alabama—Auburn University, Fish Meal Replacements in Shrimp Feeds

In an American Soybean Association project, farm trials demonstrated that replacing fish meal with soybean and corn gluten meal had little adverse effect on the production of white shrimp.  The trials also demonstrated that diets with very minimal levels of marine products could be formulated in association with very high levels of soybean meal.  The trials were conducted in Ecuador, Mexico and Colombia in mid-to-late 2006.

Ecuador: In Ecuador, the Bravo Grande shrimp farm and Inprosa feed mill conducted trials with a reduction in fish meal content of 50% from previous levels.  Culture conditions were extensive, with a stocking density of 7.2 shrimp/m² in ponds ranging between 7.5-10.5 hectares over a production cycle of 106 days.  Shrimp showed a growth rate of 1.09 grams a week and a feed conversion ratio of 1.04 to 1.  Survival and pond yield, however, at 45.7% and 535 kg/ha, respectfully, were significantly lower than the control values.  The entire farm is now using diets with reduced levels of fish meal and increased levels of soybean meal.

Mexico: Trials in Mexico were run at Acuicola Polo, a shrimp farm located in the state of Sonora, with the support of Vimifos, a feed mill located near Obregon.  This farm also used a feed with 50% less fish meal.  Culture conditions at this farm were semi-intensive with a stocking density of 27.5 shrimp/m² and pond sizes of one hectare.  The production cycle was 185 days with partial harvests during the cycle.  Although shrimp survival rose to 72.3% on the reduced fish meal feed, other performance parameters, like weekly growth rate, final shrimp weight and yield slipped about 10%.  At 2.5 to 1, the feed conversion ratio was not ideal, demonstrating that diet efficiency is only part of the puzzle to improve production.

Colombia: Acuacultivos El Guajaro, S.A., a farm located on the Atlantic Coast, worked with Agrinal Colombia, S.A., a feed mill with a plant in Cartagena.  The trial was conducted in duplicate ponds with diets containing 50% and 75% reductions in fish meal, compared to traditional diets.  This farm raised its shrimp in a low-salinity environment and used a higher stocking density with 36-42 shrimp/m².  Its production results were maintained at levels similar to those obtained with the farm’s traditional feed.  Average production was 2,950 kg/ha with 70.3% survival and a feed conversion ratio of 1.19 to 1.  In the ponds that received feed with a 75% reduction in fish meal, animal weight and growth, and overall yield were significantly higher than the values for the control ponds!

Modifications of the feed formulations used in these demonstrations resulted in feed cost reductions and relatively few effects on production at the farm level.  Hence, the replacement of fish meal with a combination of soybean meal, corn gluten meal and other locally available protein sources was a viable way to reduce feed costs and improve feed quality at the farms.

Source: The Global Aquaculture Advocate.  Editor, Darryl Jory (dejry2525@aol.com).  Fish meal Replacement in Diets Effective at Shrimp Farm Trials.  Herbert E. Quintero, PhD, and D. Allen Davis, PhD (davisda@dauburn.edu, Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures, 203 Swingle Hall, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36849-5419 USA).  Volume 11, Issue 6, Page 62, November/December 2008.

United States

Nevada—Ganix Runs into Problems Financing Shrimp Farm

In November 2007, Ganix Bio-Technologies received a conditional use permit to build an indoor, shrimp farm in two 50,000-square-foot buildings in Pahrump.  The plans for the facility included 72 ponds capable of producing 750,000 pounds annually for the Las Vegas market.  The project was approved after the Nye County Land Use Code was revised to allow indoor agriculture in the rural homestead zone.

Recently, Beau Dempsey, director of operations for Ganix, said, “Right now we’re sitting in committee with a couple of banks trying to get this thing underwritten.  The credit situation right now is a big hurdle for us.”  Ganix received the conditional use permit in February 2007 and was ready to break ground in April 2007, he said.  “Actually, some of the banks we were dealing with shut their doors and went under.  It’s just been killing us right now, trying to get a bank to underwrite this,” Dempsey said.

Source: Pahrump Valley Times.  Whatever happened to ...?  Mark Waite.  January 2, 2009.

United States

South Carolina—Job, Intern

The Waddell Mariculture Center has a position open for an aquaculture research intern.

Salary: $175 a week, with dormitory housing provided

Duration:  Approximately ten weeks, May–August 2009, to be determined by student’s academic calendar.

Closing Date: March 27, 2009

Qualifications: Applicants must be students currently enrolled in a college program with an emphasis on biology, environmental science, aquaculture, or fisheries.

Description: Interns will assist with research projects involving marine fish and shrimp in ponds, raceways and recirculating systems.  Interns will participate in setting up experiments, feeding and sampling of animals, collection and analysis of water quality data, data entry and analysis, maintenance of experimental systems, and other projects at the facility.  Each intern will also conduct an independent research project.  Most of the work will be conducted outdoors in hot or possibly inclement weather.  Internships are full-time with some overtime required.

Information: Submit resume, letter stating how you would benefit from the internship, and two letters of reference to Beth Lewis, Waddell Mariculture Center, 211 Sawmill Creek Road, Bluffton, SC 29910 USA (phone 843-837-3795, extension 124, email thomasbl@dnr.sc.gov).

Source: AquaNic (The Aquaculture Network Information Center, a gateway to the world’s electronic aquaculture resources).  Jobs Directory in cooperation with the WAS Employment Service.  Search jobs.  Aquaculture Research Internship (http://aquanic.org/jobs/jobinfo.asp?jobid=3038).  January 14, 2009.

United States

Washington, DC—Shrimp Will Be Served at President-Elect Obama’s Inauguration

The first course at Barack Obama’s inaugural luncheon on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, will include a seafood stew, containing lobster, scallops—and 10,000 poached shrimp.

Sources: 1. Newsday.com.  Obama inaugural menu echoes Lincoln’s tastes.  Erica Marcus (erica.marcus@newsday.com).  January 9, 2009.  2. Associated Press.  At inaugural balls, caviar dreams crash and burn.  Victoria Brett.  January 9, 2009.

Vietnam

Hard Times at the Vinh Hau A Shrimp Commune

Many shrimp farmers in the Mekong Delta are selling their land, unable to cope with the mounting debt caused by several poor harvests in a row.  Tran Van Thong, chairman of the Vinh Hau A Commune People’s Committee, says local shrimp farmers could not achieve high output, suffered huge losses and had to borrow a lot of money from banks.  The total outstanding loans at the commune, 77 percent of which are non-performing, have reached $3.5 million.  Now, life at the commune, where most people earn their living farming shrimp, is really hard, Thong said, noting that more than 1,000 residents have had to leave their homes to look for new jobs.

Huynh Van Gan of Bac Lieu Province said tiger shrimp used to bring huge profits to farmers, helping many escape poverty with just one successful harvest.  But now, he says, “Many of them have had to sell their buffaloes, their farmland and even their houses to repay debts.”  He calls tiger shrimp “gluttons” because farmers have to sell everything they own to feed them.  After five harvest failures, Gan, with 1.7 hectares of shrimp ponds, said his debt totaled $17,140 to banks, feed companies and loan sharks.  As a result, he had to put his land up for sale last year, but nobody would buy the land because the potential buyers knew that it had been used as collateral for bank loans.  Gan said he still has some large ponds, but no money to continue farming shrimp.

Nguyen Van Canh, another shrimp farmer in Bac Lieu Town, said his three children had to drop out of school to work in industrial parks in Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces so that they could help him repay debts of more than $5,700.

Le Cong Thanh, head of Giong Tra Hamlet in the commune, said most young people have left for new jobs, leaving behind the elderly and the children.  There are 193 families in the hamlet and 171 of them cannot repay their bank loans, Thanh said.

Many shrimp farmers in Bac Lieu and other Mekong Delta provinces said they are waiting for support from the government and exporters.  The exporters, however, are not expected to be much help because they have their own financial problems.

Tran Thien Hai, chairman of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said last month that with demand falling in Vietnam’s major shrimp export markets such as the USA and Japan, many companies have had to cut production.

Source: ThanhnienNews.com.  Shrimp farmers sell land as debts mount.  Tran Thanh Phong.  January 5, 2009.

Vietnam

Freshwater Prawn Crosses

Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the growth of three strains of freshwater prawns (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) that originated from geographically separated locations.  Crosses were established over two generations using two wild Vietnamese river populations (Dong Nai and Mekong) that were domesticated for the study and an introduced Hawaiian strain that has been in culture for many generations.  Juveniles from nine strain combinations were produced using single-pair matings.  Results after 15 weeks of growout in hapas showed that growth performance of the Hawaiian strain was best among the purebred strains and that certain cross combinations grew significantly faster than purebred strains.  Mean body weights of specific cross combinations with Dong Nai or Mekong as dams and the Hawaiian strain as sires were significantly heavier than those of purebred Dong Nai or Mekong strains.  While males reached heavier mean weights than females, male variation among the strains was obscured by social factors that produced different frequencies of male morphotypes (blue claw, orange claw and small males).  Results suggest presence of potentially valuable heterosis (hybrid vigor).

Source: Aquaculture.  Evaluation of growth performance in a diallel cross of three strains of giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) in Vietnam.  Nguyen Minh Thanh (s4090612@student.uq.edu.au, Centre for Marine Studies, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia), Raul W. Ponzonib, Nguyen Hong Nguyenb, Nguyen Thanh Vuc, Andrew Barnesa and Peter B. Matherd.  Volume 287, Issues1-2, Pages 75-83, February 1, 2009.

Vietnam

Supermarkets Buy Directly from Shrimp Farms

Nguyen Anh Hong, Director of the Maximark supermarket chain, says that supermarkets are beginning to purchase produce directly from farmers to control quality, volume and prices.  Co-op Mart, another supermarket chain, says that it needs eight tons of Kien Hai (a district in Gien Giang Province in the Mekong Delta) shrimp per day during the Tet holiday and 3-5 tons during non-holidays.

Source: Vietnam Net Bridge.  Supermarts shake hands with farmers.  December 26, 2008.

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