Free News June 1, 2007

CP Prima Wins Bidding for CP Dipasena

As the primary player in the Neptune Consortium, PT Central Proteinaprima (CP Prima), the Indonesian shrimp farming unit of Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group, has won the bidding war for PT Dipasena Citra Darmaja, touted as the largest shrimp farm in the world with a concession of 186,000 hectares. Both farms are located in southeast Sumatra. CP Prima will invest $188 million in Dipasena and has assigned construction firms PT Truba Alam Manunggal and PT Wijaya Karya to assess Dipasena’s needs.

The Neptune Consortium submitted the highest bid for Dipasena, $76 million, exceeding the minimum bid of $53.5 million set by the government.

CP Prima, already Indonesia’s biggest shrimp producer, has 16,000 hectares of shrimp ponds.

Logging of mangroves in coastal areas of Lampung Province (southeast coast of the island of Sumatra) poses a serious threat to both traditional and modern shrimp farms. Lampung Maritime and Fisheries Office data indicate that 736,000 hectares of mangrove forest along coastal Lampung are badly damaged.

In Tulangbawang Regency, the logging of mangroves and the destruction of the mangrove buffer zone has threatened the existence of the big shrimp farms that are above the high tide line, such as PT Dipasena Citra Darmaja and PT Central Pertiwi Bahari. Around 3,000 hectares of mangrove swamp around Dipasena have been felled, in an area approximately 27 kilometers long and 300 to 700 meters wide.

Director of the Lampung chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, Mukri Friatna, said mangrove forest destruction continued unabated and conservation efforts were impeded by a lack of funds and environmental awareness among residents and the state. According to Mukri, the amount of remaining mangrove forest in Lampung now only numbers in the hundreds of hectares.

Data from Mitra Bentala, an environmental group concerned with coastal communities and mangrove conservation, indicate that only 5 to 20 percent of mangrove forests remain in some coastal areas and some have totally vanished.

Mitra Bentala director Herza Yulianto said mangrove forest destruction was generally caused by small-scale shrimp farms, which are usually located approximately 100 meters from the coastline. Often farmers start a pond or two and then abandon them when they find a better site.

It would cost the Lampung provincial government more than $200 million to restore the mangroves along its coastline.

The Lampung Forestry Office has submitted a proposal for more than $10 million to reforest 7,000 to 8,000 hectares, or around 100 kilometers of Lampung’s coastline, which will take approximately five years. Office head Arinal Djunaidi said the total span of mangrove forests along Lampung’s coastline is 270 kilometers, 80 percent of which is damaged, including around 100 kilometers in national parks. The forestry office has mapped a master plan to deal with the problem. “However, the plan requires consistency from all regencies to protect the areas by not permitting businessmen to set up shrimp farms in green belt areas,” Arinal said.

Lampung Maritime and Fisheries Office head Husodo Hadi said his office would involve shrimp farmers and fishermen in restoring damaged mangrove forests along Lampung’s coastline. According to Husodo, a 50-hectare area owned by Pertiwi Bahari has already been replanted with mangrove seedlings.

Sources: 1. The Jakarta Post. Battle for Dipasena nearing end (http://www.thejakartapost.com). May 23, 2007. 2. Antara News. Economic & Business/Indonesia’s PPA says Neptune Consortium wins bidding for Dipasena assets (http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/5/24/indonesias-ppa-says-neptune-consortium-wins-bidding-for-dipasena-assets/). May 24, 2007. 3. The Bangkok Post.com. Agribusiness Overseas Expansion/Indonesian CP unit makes B2.7bn acquisition of major shrimp farm (http://www.bangkokpost.com). May 25, 2007. 4. Cempaka Marine and Fisheries. CP Prima wins Dipasena for $76m (http://cempaka-marine.blogspot.com/2007/05/cp-prima-wins-dipasena-for-76m.html). May 26, 2007. 5. The Jakarta Post. Mangrove destruction leaves Lampung coast vulnerable (http://www.thejakartapost.com) Oyos Saroso H.N. May 19, 2007.

Durwood Dugger

On Shrimp Farming in the USA

On February 1, 2007, I interviewed Durwood Dugger, a shrimp farming consultant and one of the pioneers of shrimp farming in the Western Hemisphere. Durwood, 60, has worked on more than 50 shrimp farming projects in the Western Hemisphere.

Shrimp News: What do we have to do to get shrimp farming started in the United States?

Durwood Dugger: Getting shrimp farming started isn’t the problem. Shrimp farming has been “starting” in the USA for the last 40 years. To get it past the “starting phase”, I think we’ll have to perform some sort of miracle. It’s almost impossible for shrimp farmers in the United States to compete with shrimp farmers in Latin America and Asia. China, for example, maintains its currency at artificially low levels, which essentially subsidizes its farmed shrimp exports. How can you compete with that? China can probably produce shrimp for less than a dollar a pound. My analyses show that it costs at least $1.50 to $1.80 to produce a pound of shrimp in the United States. While you might be able to make some money at those levels, I don’t think you could do it consistently, given the uncertain nature of live animal production. And that’s from a paper analysis. Things always get more expensive in the real world.

Shrimp News: When you work the numbers on a United States shrimp farm, what do you use as your model, a typical pond system or a recirculating system in a greenhouse?

Durwood Dugger: I base my numbers on a recirculating system, but not necessarily a greenhouse system. I’m not enamored with greenhouses, especially in Florida. They get cold at night, cook in the summer, and blow away in hurricanes. Hard-skinned insulated buildings work better and are more economical in the long run.

For a USA shrimp farm to show consistent profits, it would have to be vertically integrated with a hatchery, feed mill, processing plant and marketing. You just can’t find investors that are willing to put up the necessary amounts of money for the kind of returns that the shrimp farming offers today. The minimum cost for building a shrimp farm that would be profitable in the United States is probably over $10 million. With a hatchery, feed mill, processing plant and marketing, that figure would probably rise to $20 million. You’re always going to have those people that think that they can support their shrimp production business with a “niche” market for shrimp. The very nature of a niche markets makes them ephemeral. If you can do it, so can someone else, and they will always think they can do it cheaper. Niche markets for shrimp are usually the Asian live markets, or ultra fresh restaurant markets. There must have been 20 companies in the last 10 years that have gone broke chasing this “lucrative” live market. What each failed to adequately understand was the much higher cost of sales that one experiences in such niche markets and especially in live markets. They almost always overestimate the size of the niche markets and underestimate how fast their competition finds them as well. I speak to these mistakes, having made many of them myself.

In the future, vertically integrated, controlled environment, recirculating, super intensive shrimp farming seems the only way to go; however, major improvements will have to be accomplished in nutrition, genetics, disease and biosecurity before it becomes economically feasible in the United States.

Shrimp News: I’m surprised that you include a feed mill in your analysis because we already have several shrimp feed companies in the United States.

Durwood Dugger: You just can’t get around the fact that for a shrimp farm to be profitable in today’s super competitive global environment, it has to capture all the related production margins, and there are significant margins in shrimp feeds.

Information: Durwood Dugger, President, BioCepts International, Inc., 947 Sandpiper Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32963 USA (phone 772-332-1046, fax 772-234-8966, email duggerdm@bellsouth.net, webpage http://www.biocepts.com).

Source: Durwood Dugger, telephone interview by Bob Rosenberry, Shrimp News International. February 1, 2007.

Country Reports

Ecuador

Promarisco Wins Award

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (Red Lobster and other restaurant chains), employs more than 150,000 people and every year serves more than 300 million guests in 1,400 restaurants throughout North America. To provide the wide assortment of fresh ingredients and preparations that support its diverse menu offerings, Darden works with more than 2,000 suppliers. Of that group, a select few are recognized each year with the “William B. Darden Distinguished Vendor Award”. One of the eight companies named this year was Promarisco, S.A., a big shrimp farm in Guayas Province (Gulf of Guayaquil) with its own hatchery and processing plant. Promarisco won the award for its vendor-managed inventory program.

Promarisco’s webpage: http://www.promarisco.com.

Darden’s webpage: http://www.darden.com.

Source: PR Newswire. Darden Restaurants Announces 2007 “William B. Darden Distinguished Vendor Award” Winners (http://sev.prnewswire.com/restaurants/20070522/CLTU08122052007-1.html). May 22, 2007.

India

Tamil Nadu

Shrimp farmers in Tamil Nadu, a state in southeast India, have met with hatcheries and PCR labs to take stock of the unusual number of disease outbreaks this year. They agreed to form a committee to develop management practices and plan to certify hatcheries and farms. The Tamil Nadu Chapter of the All-India Shrimp Hatcheries Association participated in the decision.

Shrimp hatcheries in Tamil Nadu supply seedstock within the state and to farms in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala and Gujarat. This year, when farms started stocking, there was a major outbreak of viral diseases and about 20% of the seedstock was lost. In Andhra Pradesh, the largest shrimp production center, the losses were much greater than that.

Testing for virus in broodstock and seedstock is a necessity. Hatcheries routinely test only the seedstock. According to Mr. S. Santhanakrishnan, President of the Society of Aquaculture Professionals, agencies such as India’s Aquaculture Authority and Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) will soon make certification and registration mandatory for all hatcheries. A joint committee will visit the hatcheries and farms for inspection and approval, he said.

According to representatives of the hatchery association, there are over 75 hatcheries along Tamil Nadu’s coast between Chennai and Pondicherry. Of these, about 30 are in operation at any given time. Their total output is estimated at a billion postlarvae a year.

Sources: 1. Email to Shrimp News International from Bala Balasubramaniam, General Secretary, Prawn Farmers Federation of India, May 21, 2007. 2. Business Line. Shrimp hatcheries, farms unite to improve quality (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/05/12/stories/2007051202341200.htm). R. Balaji. May 12, 2007.

Jamaica

Shrimp Farm Shuts Down

Caribbean Mariculture, Ltd., a shrimp farm owned by the University of the West Indies and the Jamaica Agricultural Development Foundation (JADF), has been placed in liquidation and its 15 ponds on a 30-acre site have been drained.

According to Vitus Evans, JADF’s chief executive officer, a new company, Caribbean Aqua Culture, has been formed to take over the assets of Caribbean Mariculture. JADF, formed in 1984 through funding from USAID, will own the new company. Evans said that the shrimp farm at Bramton Farms near Old Harbour has been fighting a bacterial problem for the past two years that has resulted in losses of over $60 million. “We needed to get more funding from the university and they were not prepared to put in any additional funds,” he said. Evans said that the farm had been profitable since its inception in 1994 and was a success until the bacterial problem began two years ago. “Part of the problem was getting permits to bring in medication,” he added. Those problems have now been addressed. The new company, headed by Noel Thompson, a former technical officer at the farm, will manage the project. “We hope to restock at the beginning of June,” Evans said, adding that a number of investors have shown interest in the project.

Source: The Jamaica Observer. Shrimp farm closing down/New company being set up (http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/Business/html/20070522T230000-0500_123382_OBS_SHRIMP_FARM_CLOSING_DOWN.asp). Patrick Foster. May 23, 2007.

Mexico

Soybean Meal Replaces Fish Meal

In this study, soybean meal diets produced better shrimp growth than fish meal diets. The soy diets were adjusted to meet the shrimp’s requirement for cholesterol and the feed pellets were made to reduce protein leaching.

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).

Source: World Aquaculture Society. The CD of the Aqua 2007 Abstracts (San Antonio, Texas, USA, February/March 2007). Effect of Soybean Meal as the Principal Protein Source in Practical Diets for Shrimp L. Vannamei Juveniles at Growth Limiting Dietary Protein Level. Denis Ricque-Marie (denisrique@hotmail.com), Mireya Tapia-Salazar, Aaron Preciado-Negrete, Martha Nieto-López, David Villarreal-Cavazos, Hector Navarro and L. Elizabeth Cruz-Suárez (Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Apdo Postal F-56, Ciudad Universitaria San Nicolás de los Garza N. L., México 66450).

United States

California—The Wal-Mart Effect

At the “Cooking for Solutions” conference on sustainability (May 2007), sponsored by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Peter Redmond, Wal-Mart’s vice president of seafood sales, said three years ago Wal-Mart’s chief executive officer “put sustainability at the top of the agenda.” Wal-Mart can now influence the way foodstuffs and fishing stocks are grown. “Because of the volumes we buy, we set conditions and suppliers must live up to them or Wal-Mart doesn’t buy.” Redmond said Wal-Mart purchases 50 million pounds of farmed shrimp from Thailand a year.

He added that the next big issue in sustainability is “food miles”, loosely translated as the number of miles clocked in bringing foodstuffs to the marketplace. The thrust will be to feature more and more locally grown items and cutting back on products flown or trucked in from distant points. But there’s no turning back, Redmond concluded. “Wal-Mart is going green. And it doesn’t necessarily cost you money to do it.”

Bob Scowcroft, executive director of the Organic Farming Research Foundation, said the rise of superstar chefs has had a great impact on the food industry. He said the issues tackled by these chefs have moved food editors to change newspaper food sections, which in turn have moved consumers toward sustainability.

Source: The Napa Valley Register. Researchers warn time is running out for seafood stocks (http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2007/05/22/features/community/doc46533a7b067be477546661.txt). L. Pierce Carson. May 22, 2007.

United States

Louisiana—Whitespot in Crawfish Ponds

On May 18, 2007, Bob Odom, Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry, said that further testing has found whitespot in two more crawfish ponds in Vermilion Parish. State officials have begun widespread testing to identify the source of the virus. Whitespot was first confirmed during the week of May 6–12, 2007, in two ponds at a crawfish farm near Arnaudville on the border between St. Martin and St. Landry parishes. Now, all four ponds are under quarantine, and the state has begun testing crawfish delivered to processing plants, Odom said.

In addition, the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has begun testing crawfish from the Atchafalaya Basin, the center of the state’s fishery for wild crawfish.

Scientists do not know whether Louisiana crawfish will suffer the same high rates of mortality as farmed marine shrimp because this is the first case of whitespot in crawfish.

At a meeting on May 23, 2007, crawfish producers learned that investigators have few answers about how whitespot got into the four crawfish ponds. “We haven’t found a common thread yet,” said Scott DeJean, a veterinarian from the USA Department of Agriculture.

Nine other ponds have suspicious signs, and the testing on them should be completed soon.

Sick animals are lethargic and weak, and often they can’t walk. Dead animals don’t show the conspicuous white spots found in infected marine shrimp.

To prevent transferring the disease to other ponds, the AgCenter recommends that traps, boats and equipment not be moved from farm-to-farm or pond-to-pond. If something must be moved to another pond, researchers recommend that it should be washed to remove all mud and debris and then spraying with a five percent bleach solution.

Source: The Advocate.com. Crawfish disease source sought (http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/7586437.html). Richard Burgess. May 19, 2007. 2. The Daily Advertiser. Officials unsure how ponds infected (http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070526/NEWS01/705260316/1002). May 26, 2007.

United States

Massachusetts—Aqua Bounty Technologies

Aqua Bounty Technologies, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on enhancing productivity in the aquaculture market, is pleased to announce the development of a new, emulsion-based delivery system for its non-specific immune stimulant, Shrimp IMS. The new formulation is designed to allow direct incorporation of IMS into hatchery feeds by end users.

Shrimp IMS Emulsion delivers the immune system benefits of IMS in a suspension with salmon and krill oil, attractants and stabilizers. Beta testing is currently underway at shrimp hatcheries in Panama, Mexico and Indonesia. Initial reports have been favorable. Shrimp IMS Emulsion addresses several technical barriers that slowed widespread adoption of the first generation of IMS.

Now hatchery operators can easily add Shrimp IMS Emulsion to their feeds, eliminating Aqua Bounty’s need to fully penetrate the fragmented larval feed sector to deliver IMS through a wide variety of competing products.

Pretreatment of larval shrimp before they are released to growout ponds increases the effectiveness of IMS treatment and prequalifies prospective clients for the feed-based product for growout.

Three, third party laboratory studies on IMS’s ability to enhance the immune system in shrimp have been completed. The results are summarized below:

When challenged with the whitespot virus, IMS-treated shrimp had a mean absolute survival rate of 70% compared with controls, which had a survival rate of 53%, representing a 32% relative increase in survival in the IMS groups. Results were positive across three serial dilutions of the virus; relative growth rates of IMS treated animals were 18% faster than controls; and IMS treated shrimp showed a statistically significant increase in immune components (hemocyte counts) in the shrimp’s blood.

The emulsion-based delivery system will be available in other products when Aqua Bounty develops a product that remains stable for six months at room temperature.

In other news, Aqua Bounty’s AquAdvantage™ Viral Blocker VPX has been demonstrated to be a potent blocker of whitespot. Laboratory trials have demonstrated high degrees of efficacy in preventing infection by the virus. Aqua Bounty is completing a process for drying the active protein in VPX so that it is shelf stable and easy to ship. Aqua Bounty has also incorporated VPX in a small-scale batch of commercially produced feed to test methods for adding it to shrimp feeds.

Information: Elliot Entis and Joseph McGonigle, Aqua Bounty (phone 781-899-7755).

Information: Amy Rajendran and Daniel de Belder (Aqua Bounty account managers), Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial, 6th Floor, Holborn Gate 330, High Holborn, London WC1V 7QD, United Kingdom (phone 44-20-7861-3885, fax 44-20-7861-3233, webpage www.bpcf.co.uk).

Sources: 1. Email to Shrimp News International from Amy Rajendran at Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial. Subject: Aqua Bounty—Operational Update and New Developments. May 16, 2007. 2. News Release. Aqua Bounty Technologies. Ready-mix Shrimp IMSTM Emulsion in Beta Testing. May 16, 2007. 3. News Release. Aqua Bounty Technologies. Trading Update. May 16, 2007.

United States

North Carolina—To Test for Fluoroquinolones

On June 1, 2007, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will begin testing imported seafood for fluoroquinolones, a group of antibiotics banned by the USA Food and Drug Administration for use in food animals.

“This will be an aggressive program that will test all types of imported seafood,” department spokesperson Joseph Reardon said. “We’ve adopted a zero-tolerance policy for these chemicals.”

Source: Seafood Currents (an online newsletter from Seafood Business, www.seafoodbusiness.com). N.C. to test for fluoroquinolones (http://divcom-seafood.informz.net/admin31/content/template.asp?sid=2729&ptid=154&brandid=3138&uid=752859429&mi=139203). May 23, 2007.

United States

Texas—NaturalShrimp

Texans can now purchase fresh, never-frozen, chemical-free shrimp within 24 to 48 hours of harvest from a shrimp farm in south central Texas.

Shrimp Station, which recently opened a retail and wholesale shop on Midway Road, sells shrimp raised by the store’s parent company, NaturalShrimp International. The farm in La Coste, near Castroville, consists of a series of computer-monitored growout tanks in greenhouses, a controlled environment that is free of pollutants and exposure to the weather. Refrigerated trucks drive the freshly harvested shrimp to Shrimp Station on Monday and Thursday nights.

The shrimp sells for $11.99 per pound (18 to 22 count). If you want the head or shell removed, the store will do it for you. Party platters of cooked, shelled shrimp with cocktail sauce also are available with 24-hour advanced notice.

Beginning in June 2007, the store plans to host a series of free cooking classes on at least one night a month. The first class will be taught by Michael Scott, executive chef of Northwood Country Club.

Information: Shrimp Station, 14438 Midway Road, Farmers Branch, TX 75001 USA (three blocks south of Belt Line Road, phone 972-934-0800, email don@shrimpstation.net, web page www.shrimpstation.net).

Source: The Dallas Morning News. Shop sells fresh Texas shrimp year-round (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/taste/shopping/stories/DN-nf_shrimpstation_0523liv.State.Edition1.438690d.html#). Tina Danze. May 23, 2007.

United States

Washington, D.C.—Organic Shrimp

In late March 2007, the National Organic Standards Board accepted a set of standards for organic seafood and sent it to the USA Department of Agriculture for approval. With the vote (12 for, 1 against and 2 absent), the board recommended that seafood species, such as tilapia, catfish and shrimp, farmed in closed and controlled environments be eligible for organic certification.

Source: SeaFood Business (www.seafoodbusiness.com). Editor, Fiona Robinson (frobinson@divcom.com). News Line/Supply/NOSB approves organic seafood standards. James Wright. V-26, N-5, P-10, May 2007.

United States

Washington State—Aquaculture Certification Council

Production of the Western white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) is projected to be 70 percent of world production by the end of 2007, said William R. More, VP and director of the Aquaculture Certification Council in Kirkland, Washington. That’s versus about 43 percent in 2004. That explosive growth stems from places like Thailand, the leading exporter of farmed shrimp to the United States, which has shifted production from black tigers (P. monodon) to P. vannamei.

Why? White shrimp, though generally smaller than tigers, cost less to feed, are more resistant to disease, have higher survival rates, tolerate higher stocking densities and they grow faster. “When you add all these things up, the risk of farming white shrimp is a lot less than that of farming other species,” More said. Major shrimp purchasers such as Red Lobster and Wal-Mart have gone to farmed whites because they’re cheaper than other shrimp species and are more readily available in large amounts. “If you look at menus, you don’t see nearly as many black tigers anymore,” More said. “A good example is Red Lobster; most of what you see on its menu is white shrimp.”

As part of those efforts, Wal-Mart and Darden Restaurants, collectively representing more than 5,200 USA stores and restaurants, are requiring shrimp farmers to adhere to the best aquaculture practices developed by the Global Aquaculture Alliance and enforced by the ACC to ensure shrimp is farmed and processed in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. Since its inception in 2003, ACC has certified 260,000 metric tons of product at 54 processing plants in Asia, as well as about 25,000 metric tons of farmed product from 38 farms in the Western Hemisphere, More said.

Information: William R. More, Aquaculture Certification Council, Inc., 12815 72nd Avenue NE, Kirkland, WA 98034 USA (phone 425-825-7935, fax 425-650-3001, cell 206-321-0795, email wrmore@comcast.net, website www.aquaculturecertification.org).

Source: SeaFood Business (www.seafoodbusiness.com). Editor, Fiona Robinson (frobinson@divcom.com). Farmed Shrimp/NOSB approves organic seafood standards/Demand for imported vannamei grows unabated. Rick Ramseyer. V-26, N-5, P-38, May 2007.

Vietnam

Japan Testing for Semicarbazide

As of May 15, the National Fisheries Quality and Veterinary Directorate (NAFIQAVED) has announced that shrimp exports to Japan will be tested for semicarbazide (SEM, a derivative of urea). The SEM tests will be compulsory for those companies that have not been exempted from the permit process. These companies also need a certificate stating that their products do not contain prohibited antibiotic residues of chloramphenicol and AOZ (3-amino-2-oxazolidinone). The certificates must be granted by NAFIQAVED or a local center for seafood quality and veterinary control.

Earlier, Japan found SEM in dried shrimp. SEM is a substance forbidden in food, according to the Japanese regulations. Japan examines all seafood imports from Vietnam.

As of May 7, 2007, 300 Vietnamese companies have received permits to export products to Japan without having them examined.

Source: Vietnam Net Bridge. Shrimp exports to Japan to undergo semicarbazide testing (http://english.vietnamnet.vn/biz/2007/05/695611/). Ha Yen. May 16, 2007.

Vietnam

Whitespot

Whitespot virus is spreading in Thua Thien Hue Province on the north central coast. So far the outbreak has reached over 20 hectares of ponds, causing a “massive” shrimp kill. Another 10 hectares are under investigation for infection. According to the province’s Department for Protection of Aquatic Resources, the disease is expected to spread further during the warmer summer months. The department is advising farms to destroy infected shrimp.

Source: Fish Farming International (http://www.fishfarminginternational.com). Editor, Kenny McCaffrey (kenny.mccaffrey@informa.com). Whitespot Hits Vietnam. Volume 34, Number 5, Page 23, May 2007.

Vietnam

New Shrimp Feed Mill

On May 18, 2007, ground was broken on the construction of a new catfish and shrimp feed mill in the Tan Huong Industrial Zone in Tien Giang Province (Mekong Delta). A joint venture between the Nhut Thanh Tan, Ltd., Co., and Higashimaru Company, a Japanese feed company, it will cost more than $20 million. Once completed, the plant will be capable of turning out 100,000 tons of aquatic feed a year.

Source: Vietnam Economy. Agriculture/Tien Giang builds new catfish and shrimp feed plant (http://www.vneconomy.com.vn/eng/?param=article&catid=08&id=5c41a161a79572). May 21, 2007.