Marvesta Shrimp Farms

Hopes To Be Profitable in 2009

At “Aquaculture 2009”, the recent World Aquaculture Society conference in Seattle, Washington, USA (February 2009), I interviewed Guy Furman, one of three principals in Marvesta Shrimp Farms, a small farm on Maryland’s eastern shore that grows shrimp in greenhouse-covered tanks and markets fresh shrimp to local restaurants and specialty markets.

Shrimp News: Hi Guy, I understand that you expanded the farm during the summer of 2008.  Tell me about that.

Guy Furman: Until last summer, we were growing shrimp in six tanks.  Now we have 18; we went through a big expansion.  We harvest about 6,000 pounds of shrimp a year from each tank, so, conservatively, the current farm can produce 100,000 pounds a year.  We’re coming into full production right now.

Shrimp News: Everything is indoors and heated, right?

Guy Furman: Yes, and we have found some very economical solutions to the heating problem, solutions that make shrimp farming look much more feasible in the northeastern United States.

Shrimp News: Where do you get your feeds?

Guy Furman: From Zeigler Bros. in Pennsylvania.

Shrimp News: How about postlarvae?

Guy Furman: Shrimp Improvement Systems and Earthcare Aquaculture, both in Florida.

Shrimp News: How do you aerate?

Guy Furman: We use an air blower and Aero-Tube diffusers.  Aero-Tube has been a good product for us.  The only difficulty we’ve had with it is weighing it down, and you have to keep it straight.  If it kinks or curves, all the air comes out at one spot.

Shrimp News: What size animals do you harvest?

Guy Furman: We harvest at 20 and 30 grams.  We’ve discovered that it’s easier and more economical to produce 20-gram animals, and the restaurants seem to like them just as much, or even more, than the 30-gram animals.

Shrimp News: Do you plan to extend your marketing beyond restaurants and specialty markets?

Guy Furman: Yes, we’re beginning to consider new outlets like supermarkets and live markets.

Shrimp News: Many of us old timers know your production manager, Jack Crockett, from when he worked in Honduras in the 1990s.  How’s he doing?

Guy Furman: Jack’s been great.  He started with us about a year ago and since then we’ve seen nothing but dramatic improvement in our day-to-day operations.

Shrimp News: What are your plans for the future?

Guy Furman: We plan to expand at our current site and elsewhere.  We’re very pleased with our current system and the way it’s performing.  The only thing holding us back from building 12 more tanks right now is that we want to give ourselves time to adjust to the recent expansion, to run the numbers, to get all our ducks in a row.

We no longer have to make projections.  We know the labor requirements.  We know how to manage the system.  We know how much it costs to run the farm.  We know how to market the product.

We expect to be profitable in 2009!

Information: Guy Furman, Marvesta Shrimp Farms, 201 Enterprise Drive, Hurlock, Maryland 21643, USA (phone 1-410-943-1733, fax 1-410-943-1734, email guy@marvesta.com, webpage http://www.marvesta.com).

Information: John Cooksey, World Aquaculture Conference Management, P.O. Box 2302, Valley Center, CA 92082, USA (phone 1-760-751-5005, fax 1-760-751-5003, email worldaqua@aol.com, webpage http://www.was.org).

Source: Guy Furman.  Interview by Bob Rosenberry, Shrimp News International, Seattle, Washington, USA, February 18, 2009.

Country Reports

Australia

You Must Be Seven Feet Tall to Name New Species of Shrimp

In late March 2009, the Australian Marine Conservation Society auctioned off the right to name a new species of shrimp.

Luc Longley, a 7' 2" Australian and former National Basketball Association (NBA/USA) player, won the right to name the new species with a bid of $2,567.

Stay tuned; I’ll let you know when Longley chooses a name.

Information: Anna McCallum (the discoverer of the new species), PhD Candidate, Science Department, Museum Victoria, 11 Nicholson Street, Carlton 3035, Australia (phone 61-8341-7440, email amccall@museum.vic.gov.au).

Sources: 1. News Release.  Australian Marine Conservation Society.  Congratulations to Luc Longley, The Winning Bidder of the Shrimp Naming Auction!  April 2, 2009.  2. Email to Shrimp News International from Anna McCallum on April 2, 2009.  3. Bob Rosenberry, Shrimp News International, April 14, 2009.

Indonesia

USA Customs Backs Down on Transshipment Issue

The dispute between PT Central Proteinaprima, Tbk. (CP Prima), the world’s largest shrimp farm, and USA Customs over allegations that CP Prima transshipped and relabeled shrimp from China has gotten the attention of the Indonesian Government.

On April 2, 2009, Saut Hutagalung, a director of foreign trade, said several ministries were in discussions on ways to resolve the problem through diplomatic channels.  He said the ministries were drafting a letter—to be signed by Vice President Jusuf Kalla—that would be sent to USA customs authorities in a bid to prevent bilateral trade friction.  The vice president’s involvement, Hutagalung said, was “urgently” needed because the problem had dragged on since USA authorities rejected seven containers of shrimp belonging to CP Prima in October 2008, alleging that the shrimp had been unlawfully transshipped from China.

The allegations were based on tests conducted by a USA lab that found that the shrimp exported by CP Prima were similar to shrimp from China.  In January 2009, USA Customs sent a team of inspectors to the company’s shrimp farms in Lampung Province to conduct further investigations.  “The findings were supposed to have been released in early March 2009, but we still haven’t heard anything,” Hutagalung said.

Now, Susan Kohn Ross, an attorney with the southern California-based law firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, says the United States is backing off its claim that the shrimp came from China.  “The good news is that, after a lot of effort on both sides, Customs has finally conceded that the trace minerals test is not a reliable indicator of origin and...has backed off its claims,” said Ross, who represents CP Prima.

Sources: 1. Jakarta Globe.  CP Prima to Get Government Assist.  Arti Ekawati.  April 2, 2009.  2. The Wave (an online, subscription-based news service published by IntraFish Media, Norway).  Editorial Director, John Fiorillo (phone 1-206-282-3474, extension 25, cell 1-206-963-5732, fax 1-206-282-3470, email john.fiorillo@intrafish.com).  U.S. backs off claims Indonesian shrimp from China.  Ben DiPietro (ben.dipietro@intrafish.com).  April 9, 2009.

Guam

Researchers Plan to Develop “Super Shrimp”

In January 2009, at the invitation of University of Guam’s Dr. Hui Gong, two post-doctoral professors from China arrived at the Guam Aquaculture Development and Training Center (GADTC) to help Dr. Gong develop a family of super shrimp.  GADTC, also known as the Fadian Hatchery, is the largest and oldest aquaculture center in the Western Pacific.

In 2008, Dr. Gong produced 20 families of shrimp.  In 2009, her team will select the ten families with the most desirable characteristics and then begin breeding them with the intention of producing a family of super shrimp.  The process will probably take several years, but once completed, seedstock will be made available to regional farmers, and possibly exported.

The post-doctorial professors from China are Jian-Hua Xiong and Yong-Zhen Zhao.  Dr. Xiong is a molecular biologist who works on identifying shrimp genotypes.  He extracts DNA from shrimp and then uses electrophoresis to identify its genotype.  Dr. Zhao specializes in shrimp breeding and genetics.  In a news release, he said, “These super shrimp would be highly disease resistant, fast growers and taste delicious.”

Information: Hui Gong, University of Guam, Western Pacific Tropical Research Center, UOG Station, Mangilao, Guam 96923, USA (phone 1-671-735-2684, fax 1-671-734-0485, email, webpage http://www.wptrc.org/research_dtl.asp?rschrID=7).

Source: PacificNewsCenter.com.  UOG Visiting Scholars Developing “Super Shrimp”.  April 3, 2009.

Japan

Crustacean Society/Carcinological Society of Japan

The Crustacean Society’s summer meeting is scheduled for September 20-25, 2009, at Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan.

For the general sessions, the organizers invite papers in all areas of crustacean biology.  To contribute a paper to one of the symposiums (below), you must first contact the organizer of the symposium.

Symposiums

Life History Migrations of Freshwater Shrimp: Ecological and Adaptive Significance (Raymond T. Bauer, University Louisiana, USA, and Hiroshi Suzuki, Kagoshima University, Japan)

Phylogeography and Population Genetics in Decapod Crustacea (Christoph D. Schubart, University Regensburg, Germany)

Speciation and Biogeography in Non-Decapod Crustaceans (Christoph Held, Alfred Wegener Institute of Polar Marine Research, Germany)

Biology of Anomura III (Fernando Mantelatto, University of São Paulo, Brazil, and Christopher Tudge, American University and Smithsonian Institution, USA)

Crustacean Chemoreception: Identification of Cues and Their Applications (Charles Derby, Georgia State University, USA, and Miguel V. Archdale, Kagoshima University, Japan)

Integrative Biology: Crustaceans as Model Systems (Antonio Baeza, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, USA)

Ecology and Behavior of Peracarids: Progress and Prospects (Masakazu Aoki, Tsukuba University, Japan, and Martin Thiel, University Católica Norte, Chile)

Reproductive Behavior of Decapod Crustaceans (Keiji Wada, Nara Women’s University, Japan, and Satoshi Wada, Hokkaido University, Japan)

The New Perspective on Barnacle Research (Toshi Yamaguchi, Chiba University, Japan)

Symbiosis in Crustaceans: Diversity and Evolutionary Trends (Susumu Ohtsuka, Hiroshima University, Japan)

Current Status of Fisheries and Biological Knowledge of Snow and Tanner Crabs Genus Chionoecetes in the World (Hiroshi Motoh, Japan)

Diversity and Ecology of Thalassinidean Shrimps (Gyo Itani, Kochi University, Japan)

Impacts of Human Exploitation on Large Decapod Resources (Taku Sato, Fisheries Research Agency, Japan)

Conservation Biology of Freshwater Crayfish: New challenges from Japan and Eastern Asia (Tadashi Kawai, Wakkanai Fisheries Experimental Station, Japan)

Deadline: Early registration and abstracts: April 30, 2009.

Information: Akira Asakura, Senior Researcher, Natural History Museum and Institute, Crustacea, Zoology Department, 955-2, Aoba-cho, Chuo-ku, Chiba, 260-8682 Japan (phone +81-43-265-3274, fax +81-43-266-2481, email tcstokyosummer@yahoo.co.jp, webpage http://wwwsoc.nii.ac.jp/csj4/TCSFirstPage1.html).

Source: Crust-L, an email-based mailing list for crustacean scientists (To subscribe, send an email to LISTPROC@VIMS.EDU.  In the body of the email, put SUBSCRIBE CRUST-L).  Subject: Final Call for Papers: TCS Summer Meeting in Tokyo, Japan 2009.  From: Akira Asakura (asakura@chiba-muse.or.jp).  April 6, 2009.

Madagascar

Maruha Nichiro

Maruha Nichiro, formerly one of Japan’s largest fishing companies and now primarily a processor/distributor of fishery products, has pulled out of Madagascar, where it was engaged in trawl fishing and shrimp farming.  Because of over fishing and rising costs, it has downsized its operations over the last few years.  Now the worldwide financial slump, a plunge in the value of the local currency and political instability have forced it to close down all operations in Madagascar.

Source: The Wave (an online, subscription-based news service published by IntraFish Media, Norway).  Editorial Director, John Fiorillo (phone 1-206-282-3474, extension 25, cell 1-206-963-5732, fax 1-206-282-3470, email john.fiorillo@intrafish.com).  Maruha Nichiro pulls out of Madagascar.  April 1, 2009.

Mexico

Preliminary Shrimp Farming Program for the WAS Meeting in Veracruz

To view the preliminary shrimp farming program for the World Aquaculture Society meeting in Veracruz (May 25, 2009), click here.

Source: Bob Rosenberry, Shrimp News International, April 17, 2009.

Myanmar/Bangladesh

Bangladesh Wants to Lease Shrimp Ponds in Myanmar

Bangladesh wants to lease shrimp ponds in Myanmar’s Arakan State.  An official of the Bangladesh Commerce Ministry said, “We will raise the issue of leasing land in...Arakan...for ensuring our country’s food security through agriculture, animal husbandry, poultry and shrimp farming.”

Source: Narinjara.  Bangladesh Eyes Farmlands in Arakan.  April 3, 2009.

Netherlands

Internship Opportunity—Biofloc Research at Shrimp Facility

Aquaculture Farming Technology Compan has an internship open for a student at its biofloc research facility.  The work will involve feeding trials with Penaeus monodon and P. vannamei.

Qualifications: Experience in aquaculture, knowledge of water chemistry, fluency with Microsoft Excel.  Duties will include feeding, record keeping, water quality measurements, data collection and maintenance, all within a family atmosphere.

Closing Date: Saturday, April 25, 2009.

Contact: L. Claessens (email info@aquaculture-ft.com, webpage http://www.aquaculture-ft.com).

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.  Internship at our Bio-floc research shrimp farm (http://aquanic.org/jobs/jobinfo.asp?jobid=3117).  Posted April 3, 2009.

Thailand

CP Foods—What Recession?  Next Up, the Philippines

While many exporters are feeling distraught over slumping sales, Thailand’s largest listed food producer, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Plc. (CPF), expects to escape relatively unscathed from the global recession.

With shrimp broodstock facilities, hatcheries, intensive growout farms, feed mills, processing plants and an international marketing operation, CPF is a major player in the world’s shrimp industry.

Adirek Sripratak, the company’s president and CEO, predicted food exports would make up 18 percent of the company’s sales revenue this year, a rise from 16 percent last year, with revenue from its foreign operations in 10 countries rising to 17-18 percent, up from 16 percent last year.  Given the poor economic outlook and lower consumption, domestic sales are expected to drop to 64 percent of CPF’s total from 68 percent in 2008.

For 2009, CPF cut its investment budget by 50 percent to about $70 million.  The funds will go to brand development, value added food products, high-value meals, ready-to-eat meals, human resources, market development and expansion of the domestic market.

The Philippines: Apart from distributing fish and shrimp feeds, CPF operates a shrimp and fish demonstration farm and fish hatchery in the Philippines.  In 2010, according to company executives, CPF plans to build a $11–$14 million fish and shrimp feed manufacturing plant in the Philippines—if Philippine politics remain stable.

Mr. Adirek said CP chairman Dhanin Chearavanont was personally convinced by Philippine President Gloria Arroyo to invest in rice, pork, shrimp and poultry, mainly to supply the Filipino people.

A team of Thai experts will visit the Philippines in May 2009 to conduct an investment feasibility study.  “We are ready to invest next year,” said Mr. Adirek.

Source: TradingMarkets.com.  CPF expects modest impact from recession.  April 2, 2009.

United States

California—Algae Production Costs

This exchange took place on the Shrimp List:

Leland Lai (lelandlai@aquafauna.com): We’re doing a comparison of algae production costs as a portion of total hatchery costs in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres and need some additional information.  What are the most common cultured algae used in green water systems?  Any information would be helpful, especially the estimated cost of algae production per 1,000 postlarvae.

Specifically, for Penaeus vannamei, P. monodon and P. indicus, we would like to know the cell densities and algae species used to feed the various larval stages from naups to PL-3s.

Information: Leland Lai, Director, Aquafauna Bio-Marine, Inc., P.O. Box 5, Hawthorne, California 90250, USA (phone 1-310-973-5275, fax 1-310-676-9387, email lelandlai@aquafauna.com, webpage http://www.aquafauna.com).

Laurence Evans (ecotao@yahoo.com): A few independent publications have shown that Chaetoceros muelleri is one of the best species for feeding larval shrimp.  It has been successfully used with Penaeus vannamei, P. monodon and P. indicus.  I used it with indicus for about ten years.  Cell concentration should be at least 40,000 cells per milliliter and above 100,000 cells per milliliter for the best production.

There is some benefit from using two algal species.  Tetraselmis suecica or T. chuii in combination with C. muelleri from Z-2 to PL-2 works in the species you asked about.  Tetraselmis is included at about 10,000 cells per milliliter.  I prefer to bloom the algae right in the larval rearing tanks.  It improves water quality, algae quality and reduces the amount of algae that needs to be added.  In the gut of P. indicus and P. monodon, the green Tetraselmis is evident until about PL-2.  The test tube “mother cultures” of Tetraselmis require brighter light than Chaetoceros.

Source: The Shrimp List (a mailing list for shrimp farmers).  Subject: What Algaes & Densities Are Used in Greenwater Systems.  April 6–13, 2009.

United States

Hawaii—Fumi’s Kahuku Shrimp Farm

This four-minute video shows the broodstock, hatchery and growout operations at Fumi’s Kahuku Shrimp Farm, an 80-acre shrimp farm on the north shore of Oahu.  Customers can buy live shrimp by the pound at the farm, which stocks 200,000 postlarvae per acre and harvests approximately 2,000 pounds per acre.  Workers use a floating device that emits a weak 12-volt surge of electricity to harvest shrimp.  Click on the link below to see the harvesting device in action.

Source: YouTube.  Raising Shrimp in Kahuku, Hawaii.  April 1, 2009.

United States

Indiana—Prawn Farm Purchases Shrimp Boat

Eddy-Lynn’s Shrimp Farm, a small freshwater prawn farm (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) in Coatesville, Indiana, has purchased a 30-foot shrimp boat to promote its prawn farming business.  Keith and Katrina Henderson, owners of the farm, have three prawn ponds, one catfish pond, and they are going to put the shrimp boat in a fifth pond.  Although the boat won’t be ready for the Henderson’s big Labor Day “Come Out to the Farm Harvest”, they will have plenty of fresh prawns for sale at $9 a pound this fall.

Information: Keith and Katrina Henderson, Eddy-Lynn Shrimp Farm, 446 South Co. Road 900 East, Coatesville, Indiana 46121, USA (phone 1-765-386-7496, email eddylynns@shrimpfarminginindiana.com, webpage http://www.shrimpfarminginindiana.com).

Source: BannerGraphic.com.  Local shrimp farm owners purchase 30-foot shrimp boat Saturday.  Shannen Hayes.  April 4, 2009.

United States

Montana—Shrimp Scampi, Shrimp Scampi

Chef Jim Gray says: “I’m always amused to see the term Shrimp Scampi on a menu because it’s actually a redundancy.  Scampi is the Italian word for shrimp (the singular form is scampo).  ...Most people think they’re getting a classic Italian shrimp dish, but they’d be wrong.  Scampi are certainly related to shrimp, but they’re closer to a langoustine, which is sort of like a miniature lobster.”

You can view Gray preparing a shrimp dish at http://kitchenguy.biz/home/cajun-shrimp-in-cayenne-butter.

Source: Flatheadbeacon.com.  Shrimp Redundancy.  Chef Jim Gray (kitchenguy@flatheadbeacon.com).  April 5, 2009.

United States

Washington DC—Continuous Bonds are History

In an April 1, 2009, announcement in the Federal Register, the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) division of the USA Department of Homeland Security said it would no longer subject shrimp importers to bonding requirements.

A recent World Trade Organization (WTO) appellate body report held the application of this requirement to shrimp from Thailand and India was inconsistent with USA WTO obligations.  In response to this report, CBP said it’s ending the designation of shrimp subject to antidumping or countervailing duty orders as a special category or covered case subject to the enhanced bonding rules.  The shrimp importers affected by this requirement may request termination of any existing continuous bonds, the agency said.

Source: The Wave (an online, subscription-based news service published by IntraFish Media, Norway).  Editorial Director, John Fiorillo (phone 1-206-282-3474, extension 25, cell 1-206-963-5732, fax 1-206-282-3470, email john.fiorillo@intrafish.com).  U.S. to stop continuous shrimp bonds.  Ben DiPietro (ben.dipietro@intrafish.com).  April 2, 2009.

Vietnam

Germany’s Bayer Group Produces Shrimp Feed in Vietnam

Bayer Vietnam, a subsidiary of Germany’s Bayer Group, has been producing shrimp feed in Vietnam since 2002.

Information: http://www.bayer.com.vn.

Source: ThanhnienNews.com.  Bayer’s environmental contest returns for fourth year.  V. Anh.  April 1, 2009.

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