CP Prima Gets Operating Loans

More Than 1,000 Farmers Restart Operations

More than a thousand shrimp farmers returned to work at PT Aruna Wijaya Sakti, a shrimp farm owned by CP Prima in Lampung, Sumatra, when the company received a loan from PT Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI).  The state-owned bank issued loans worth $16.59 million to 1,051 farmers in the form of working capital to start production, purchase production equipment and repair shrimp ponds.  Loans were also extended to shrimp farmers at PT Wachyuni Mandira (WM), another farm owned by CP Prima.

Altogether CP Prima’s integrated shrimp farming operations (feeds, hatcheries, farms, processing and marketing) in Sumatra and elsewhere in Indonesia make it one of the largest shrimp farming operations in the world, if not the largest.  Recently, however, it has had financial problems caused by low shrimp prices (2009) and operational problems caused by shrimp viruses (2010).  The first problem has been more or less resolved by rising shrimp prices.  The second, the virus problem, is a management problem, and shrimp farmers in other countries have learned how to dance around shrimp viruses.  If CP Prima ever gets all its ponds producing at one time, it could easily produce a billion dollars worth of shrimp in one year!

The head of the Bandarlampung branch of BNI’s micro credit center said the loans were provided to help sustain Pacific white shrimp production.  He said both companies could yield high profits.

A shrimp farmer named Thowilun said, “Because of the stoppage, many of us have debts of between $9 and $11 thousand each.  Unless we can start producing now, the debts will grow bigger.”  He added that farmers had high hopes for change when control was transferred to PT Central Proteina Prima (CP Prima), which promised to revitalize 16 blocks of shrimp ponds in eight villages.  But, Thowilun said, “It has only revitalized five blocks.”

Sources: 1. The Jakarta Post.  Bank Loans Help Shrimp Farmers Return to Work.  Oyos Saroso H.N.  January 8, 2011.  2. Bob Rosenberry, Shrimp News International, January 10, 2011.

Estimated World Production
of Farmed Shrimp 2007 to 2012

At the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Global Outlook for Aquaculture Leadership 2010 Conference (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October 2010), Dr. James Anderson, former chairman of the Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics at the University of Rhode Island (USA) and current fisheries and aquaculture adviser to the World Bank’s Global Program on Fisheries (Italy), presented information on world shrimp production.  His sources included the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, various national aquaculture associations and an extensive survey of key industry players.

Source: The Global Aquaculture Advocate (The Global Magazine for Farmed Seafood).  Editor, Darryl Jory (dejry2525@aol.com).  Global Production Estimates Key Element of GOAL 2010 Program.  Dr. Darryl Jory (editorgaadvocate@aol.com, Global Aquaculture Alliance, 5661 Telegraph Road, Suite 3A, St. Louis, Missouri 63129, USA).  Volume 14, Issue-1, Page 10, January/February 2011.

Country Reports

Africa

Mozambique—Aquapesca Exports 600 Tons of Farmed Shrimp to Europe

In 2009, Aquapesca, a shrimp farm based in Zambezia Province, Mozambique, exported about 600 tons of giant tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) to Spain, Portugal, France and other European markets.  François Grosse, operations director of the company, said that’s about the same amount it’s been exporting for the last four years.  Grosse said the shrimp were certified by an international organization.  He plans to export another 600 tons to Europe in 2011.

“The company’s great dream is to reach production of eight hundred to a thousand tons of shrimp a year”, Grosse said.  That would involve improving its hatchery operation in Nacala in northern Nampula Province, which has the potential to produce 25 million postlarvae a year.  Currently, the farm transports the PLs from the hatchery to its farm near the city of Inhassunge in Zambezia Province, which has 52 ponds spread over 350 hectares and a workforce of 550, mostly Mozambicans.  They work on the farm and in the processing plant, which plans to begin marketing shrimp to the United States in 2011.

Source: AllAfrica.com.  600 Tonnes of Farmed Prawns Exported to Europe.  January 2, 2011.

Belgium/Australia

Penaeus monodon Production Record

In July 2010, Australia’s CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) and the country’s shrimp farming industry announced the development of a new breed of tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) that, in one pond, produced 24.4 metric tons per hectare—a world record for tiger shrimp.

In response, Eric De Muylder, owner of CreveTec, bvba, which does shrimp farm and feed consulting around the world, said:

I read the article about the good results with P. monodon in Australia.  I certainly don’t want to minimize the results they obtained, but the highest biomass obtained still should be credited to the Seychelles, a country of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean.  In 2003, at the Coetivy farm in the Seychelles, we produced 12,646 tons in one half-hectare pond (412,469 shrimp, harvested at 30.66 grams average weight), which works out to 25.29 tons per hectare, which, I think, is the standing world record for monodon production!

Information: Eric De Muylder, CreveTec, bvba, Nieuwenbos 43, 1702 Groot-Bijgaarden, Belgium (phone +32-473-721004, email eric@crevetec.be, webpage http://www.crevetec.be).

Sources: 1. Email from Eric De Muylder to Shrimp News International on July 9, 2010.  2. Wikipedia.  Seychelles.  January 8, 2011.

Ecuador

La Niña

On January 6, 2011, the United States Climate Prediction Center reported: La Niña conditions are likely to continue into May 2011 and then begin to diminish.A moderate-to-strong La Niña existed during December 2010 as reflected by well below-average sea surface temperatures across the equatorial Pacific Ocean.

There remains considerable uncertainty as to whether La Niña will last into the Northern Hemisphere summer (as suggested by the NCEP CFS and a few other models), or whether there will be a transition to ENSO-neutral conditions (as suggested by the CPC CON and a majority of the other models).

Source: Climate Prediction Center.  El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion (a downloadable PDF or Word file).  January 6, 2011.

Ecuador

Polychaete Production Per Hectare

Marine worms (polychaetes) are one of the preferred feeds at shrimp maturation and broodstock facilities.

David Griffith (drwgriffith@gmail.com) posted this question to The Shrimp List:

Does anyone have information on densities achievable in polychaete production systems?  Other than one study in the journal Aquaculture (Palmer, P., Polychaete Assisted Sand Filter, Volume-306, Pages 369-377, 2010), which estimates production at between 300 and 400 grams per square meter, I haven’t found much else.  By the way, that’s 3 to 4 metric tons per hectare, pretty impressive considering the systems were fed only the effluent water from shrimp ponds!

Adam Body (a.body@bigpond.com): We farm barramundi in ponds over an 18-month growout cycle and have measured the polychaete biomass in the pond bottoms at around 12 metric tons per hectare.

See this page: http://www.flickingfresh.com/page008.aspx. We 
found out that our species of marine worm was a new one. See this page: 
http://australianmuseum.net.au/publication/A-new-species-of-Marphysa-Quatrefages-1865.

Josh Wilkenfeld (josh.wilkenfeld@gmail.com): Very interesting stuff and a whole lot more to read.  One quick question: In a portion of one of your links, I read “The worms build up in numbers in the pond after we do the initial seeding at the beginning of the crop.”  Are you actually seeding worms into the ponds to get things started, or do they just come in with water and the seeding you are referring to is stocking of the fish?  Is some stage in the life cycle capable of going dormant and surviving in the soil between crops and then reactivating when the ponds are flooded?

Adam Body (a.body@bigpond.com): We have considered how to set up a system to grow them commercially, and the requirement at this stage is for a suitable substrate from which the worms could be harvested in an effective manner without damaging them.

Josh: We started with natural recruitment, and then used the worm’s gelatinous egg capsules to spread them from pond to pond.  Now, we try to nurture them as best we can from crop to crop.  We no longer need to clean our ponds as the worms do that for us.  We treat them with great respect!  They survive in the empty ponds for some time, as their burrows are about 300–400 millimeters deep.  After harvest, we attempt as best we can to get the ponds refilled as quickly as possible to maximize worn survival.

Source: The Shrimp List (a mailing list for shrimp farmers).  Subject: Polychaete Density in Culture.  January 6–12, 2011.

Indonesia

Government Extends Ban on Shrimp Imports

Indonesia has extended its import ban on Western white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) for the food market because they have the potential for carrying up to thirteen shrimp viruses that could affect the country’s shrimp farming industry.

According to Saut P. Hutagalung, the director of foreign marketing at the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, the ban, which took effect on December 23, 2010, will last indefinitely, or until the viruses are contained.

“The import [of the shrimp] will be banned for at least the first semester of 2011,” he said, adding that the ban was based on the scientific findings of the World Organization for Animal Health (Office International des Epizooties, OIE), which says P. vannamei carries 13 viruses that could harm other shrimp species.

However, Fisheries Processing and Marketing Entrepreneurs Association chairman Thomas Darmawan said that the government should limit and tighten vannamei shrimp imports instead of implementing a full ban.  He added that processors should be able to import shrimp from virus-free countries.

Also See: Brunei Bans Some Shrimp Imports to Protect Its Emerging Shrimp Farming Industry.

Source: The Jakarta Post.  Govt. Extends Import on Shrimp Species.  December 31, 2010.

Italy

Aquaculture Surpasses Fisheries in 2010

According to a 2006 prediction by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 2010 will be the year the world begins eating more farmed seafood than captured seafood.  The figures aren’t out yet, but that’s the way they’ve been heading.  Aquaculture is the world’s fastest-growing animal food-producing sector, with an average annual growth since 1970 of almost seven percent.

Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service).  Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 1-781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com).  Australian Aquaculture Scores High on Sustainability, Especially for Farmed Barramundi, Prawns.  Matt Shivers (mshivers@urnerbarry.com).  December 17, 2010.

Japan

Analysts See Higher Shrimp Prices

Analysts foresee rising seafood prices in Japan in 2011.  A trading house official predicted that shrimp prices should be firm in 2011, propped up by expanding demand in the United States and Europe.

Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service).  Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 1-781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com).  Japanese Analysts See Higher Shrimp, Salmon Prices in 2011 Due to International Demand.  January 4, 2011.

Mexico

Federal Money for Aquaculture

The National Commission of Aquaculture and Fisheries (Conapesca) will have a record budget of $325 million in 2011, an increase of 10.8 percent over 2010.  As reported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock (Sagarpa), the purpose of the increase is to promote sustainable aquaculture, fisheries and rural communities.  The budget increase also marks the beginning of the restructuring of fisheries and aquaculture in Mexico, a country with around 12,000 kilometers of coastline.

Roughly $52.8 million will be allocated to the National Inspection and Monitoring Program and the Electrical Infrastructure Program for Aquaculture Zones (PIEZA).

Source: FIS United States.  USD 325 Million Allocated to Develop Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector.  Silvina Corniola (editorial@fis.com).  January 5, 2011.

Mexico

Chiapas—La Candelaria

Alberto Cruz Reyes, president of the aquaculture cooperative La Candelaria, a shrimp farm in the state of Chiapas, says the farm expects a harvest of 220 tons of Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei), worth over 1$ million, from its first harvest this spring/summer.  It plans another harvest for late summer/early fall.  Cruz hopes to get three harvests a year in the future.

The farm has one hundred hectares of ponds, but right now it’s only using about half of them (21 ponds measuring 2.5 hectares each).  For the second crop, the farm plans to add 14 more ponds.

The farm generates 50 direct and 50 in-direct jobs, and the workforce will double when the farm completes its expansion for the second harvest.  Currently, it has two biologists and a chemist.  Felipe Tena Villa, a consultant on the project, said the farm has an excellent source of clean, warm water that’s perfect for shrimp farming.  Diazteca S.A. de C.V. will market the crop in Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico.

Source: FIS United States.  Chiapas Committed to Shrimp Farming.  Silvina Corniola (editorial@fis.com).  January 5, 2011.

Norway/Vietnam

Skretting Completes Purchase of Tomboy Aquafeed in Vietnam

Skretting, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nutreco feed group, recently completed its purchase of Tomboy Aquafeed JSC, a leading player in Vietnam’s shrimp feed market.  Skretting operates on five continents and produces 1.3 million tons of feed annually for more than fifty aquatic species.  It has around 1,300 employees worldwide and makes feeds in Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the USA, Norway, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom.  Its head office and Aquaculture Research Centre are in Stavanger, Norway.

The acquisition includes a thriving shrimp feed business that makes Skretting the fourth biggest player in the Vietnamese shrimp feed market.

Source: Fishnewseu.com.  Skretting Make Strategic Acquisition In South East Asia.  January 5, 2011.

Saudi Arabia

Jazadco

Jazan Development Company, or “Jazadco”, is a Saudi Arabia-based publicly traded company that operates primarily in the agriculture and aquaculture sectors.  In addition to fish farming operations, Jazadco completed a 440-hectare shrimp farm in 2009.  It plans to produce 3,300 tons of white shrimp (Penaeus indicus) a year.  Its processing plant and farm hold international quality certificates from ISO 22000 and HACCP, and it is in the process of obtaining EU (European Union) approval for it products.

Information: Jazan Development Company, P.O. Box 127, Gazan, Saudi Arabia (phone 966 3222162, fax +966 3222357, email info@jazadco.com.sa).

Source: FIS United States.  Company of the Week/Jazan Development Company.  Margaret E.L. Stacey (editorial@fis.com).  January 7, 2011.

United States

Arizona—Correction

The December 24, 2010, issue of Shrimp News contained the following report: “For fiscal year 2011, members of the United States Congress from Arizona have proposed earmarks of $4.2 million for shrimp aquaculture research at the University of Arizona.”

Linda Nunan, Assistant Staff Scientist at Dr. Donald Lightner’s shrimp virus lab at the University of Arizona, reported: “As soon as the Phoenix station aired that above-mentioned story, we were informed.  The station did not do its homework, and your mention in Shrimp News International, will, I’m afraid, perpetuate the misconceptions.”

Nunan emphasized: “Congress did not earmark $4.2 million for shrimp research in Arizona.”

Information: Linda Nunan, The University of Arizona, 1117 E. Lowell St., Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA (phone 1-520-621-4438, email lmn@email.arizona.edu).

Source: Email from Linda Nunan to Shrimp News International.  Subject: Regarding Arizona Earmarks for Shrimp Farming.  January 3, 2011.

United States

Hawaii—Taura Virus Resistant Broodstock

In response to the Taura virus outbreaks, the United States Marine Shrimp Farming Program, through the Oceanic Institute, initiated a selective-breeding program to improve TSV resistance in Penaeus vannamei.  Rapid improvements in TSV resistance of 10-20% a generation were achieved during the first years of selection.  After 15 generations of selection, recent cohorts have exhibited over 80% survival to multiple isolates of TSV.  These results suggested that isolate-specific shrimp lines do not need to be developed.

The Oceanic Institute periodically distributes TSV-resistant germplasm from the USMSFP breeding program to USA industry stakeholders.  This germplasm typically has been in the form of postlarvae of the best-performing families from the previous generation.  Over the last seven years, about 700,000 shrimp have been distributed to USA farmers and broodstock suppliers, along with a small number of shrimp distributed to USA research institutions.  Descendants of TSV-resistant stocks have been shipped worldwide by USA broodstock suppliers, and the use of TSV-resistant stocks of P. vannamei is now common in most shrimp-farming areas of the world.

Source: The Global Aquaculture Advocate (The Global Magazine for Farmed Seafood).  Editor, Darryl Jory (dejry2525@aol.com).  Production/Shrimp Breeding for Resistance to Taura Syndrome Virus.  Dustin R. Moss (dmoss@oceanicinstitute.org, Oceanic Institute, 41-202 Kalanianaole Highway, Waimanalo, Hawaii 96795, USA), Steve M. Arce, Clete A. Otoshi and Shaun M. Moss.  Volume 14, Issue-1, Page 40, January/February 2011.

United States

Indiana—Feasibility Study for New Shrimp Farm

Wert-Berater, Inc., a provider of feasibility studies for new ventures, is doing a study for a USDA-funded super-intensive shrimp farm in Indiana.  The facility being evaluated intends to farm shrimp, tilapia, leafy green vegetables, root vegetables, fruit, earthworms and compost.  In theory, all the crops will be profitable and create no waste.

Information: Erika Garton, Wert-Berater, Inc. (USA phone 1-888-661-4449, extension 9, Europe phone 41-43-456-9667, fax 1-888-559-5357, email egarton@wert-berater.com, webpage http://www.wert-berater.com).

Sources: 1. Email from Erika Garton at Wert-Berater, Inc., to Shrimp News International on January 6, 2011.  2. PRLog.org.  Wert-Berater, Inc. Providing a Feasibility Study for USDA Funded Super-Intensive Shrimp Farm in IN.  January 6, 2011.

Vietnam

New Strain of Vannamei Broodstock?

Scientists at Vietnam’s Research Institute for Aquaculture No. 3 have produced 6,000 pairs of Penaeus vannamei broodstock, named “F1-V3-VN”, from broodstock imported from Hawaii.

The F1-V3-VN strain has high survival rates (93.3%) and greater fecundity than the parent stock (200,000-300,000 eggs per female compared to 170,000-190,000 for the parent stock).  The hatching rate for F1-V3-VN was also higher than that of the parent stock.

From 2,850 pairs, 1,831 billion nauplii were produced.  The resulting postlarvae cost half as much to produce as those imported from Thailand, and they were free of TSV, WSSV, MBV, IHV, BP and IHBMV.

A total 34.1 million F1-V3-VN postlarvae were stocked in 59 ponds (27.2 hectares) at 24 small farms in central Vietnam.  The trial ponds were harvested after 78 days with average output of 11 tons per hectare.  Shrimp size reached 99 count per kilo with a feed conversion ratio of 1.11.  Disease outbreaks were widespread on nearby shrimp farms, but only 5 trial ponds out of 59 were infected.

Until now, Vietnamese shrimp farmers have been dependent on broodstock imports from Thailand or Hawaii.  The successful production of F1-V3-VN could ease that expensive dependency.  The scientists at the Research Institute for Aquaculture plan to run several more trials with the new strain before seeking approval from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to mass-produce it.

Source: VietFish.org.  Vietfish International.  Vannamei Broodstocks of Viet Nam.  Hoang Thanh.  November/December 2010.

Vietnam

Shrimp Prices Soaring

An owner of a shrimp outlet in Dong Nai Province said prices for giant tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) and Western white shrimp (P. vannamei) have been rising since October 2010.

Twenty-count, first-grade, giant tiger shrimp fetch over $10.25 a kilogram [market level and tail status not provided].  Prices for 30-40 count tigers have increased by almost $2.05 to $9.23-$9.74/kg since mid-October 2010.  The best white shrimp (50-60 count) is currently priced at $4.10/kg, up $1.03/kg.

Severe shortages of raw shrimp occur at shrimp processing plants in the Mekong Delta.

Source: Vietfish International.  Dong Nai: Shrimp Price Soaring.  January 3, 2011.

Vietnam

Video—Peaceful Pond Feeding

I think you’ll enjoy this misty, minute-and-a-half, high-resolution video of a young man hand-feeding shrimp while maneuvering a tiny raft around a very still pond.  You see long-arm aerators (not turned on), a plastic feed storage shed and other ponds in the distance being fed in a similar manner.

Source: YouTube.  Shrimp Farming in Vietnam.  December 31, 2010.