There will be no Free News next week, Friday, March 5, 2010.

Free News will return on Friday, March 12, 2010.

Russ Allen Gets Some Good Press

in Entrepreneur Magazine

The March 2010 issue of Entrepreneur magazine, available at all major newsstands in the United States right now (look for the lime-green cover), contains a one-page article on Russ Allen’s plans for his indoor, environmentally friendly shrimp farm in central Michigan.

Some excerpts:

Allen’s prototype shrimp farm  in Okemos, Michigan, harvests approximately 200 to 400 pounds of shrimp per week.  His on-site shrimp market sells peel-and-eat shrimp, shrimp burgers, shrimp spread and shrimp salad.  The farm is still in the research and development phase.

Shrimp farming, according to Allen, is more economical than producing pigs, cattle or chickens.  He believes the USA, which imports more than one billion pounds of shrimp a year, could monopolize the shrimp industry, thanks to the low cost of feed and his high-density production system.

“Growing shrimp can be cheaper in Michigan than any other place in the world, yet China is the leader,” he says.  “We have cheaper feed costs than anywhere else in the world, and our biosecurity measures mean we keep more shrimp alive than other countries and maintain a much higher level of production.”

Allen has spent more than $3 million over 15 years toward his goal of developing shrimp farming in the United States, but he still fights an uphill battle as he attempts to raise an additional $10 million from private investors.

A Sad Note

As some of you may know, Russ’s wife Elizabeth died recently.  While exchanging emails with Russ about the Entrepreneur article, Russ wrote: “Elizabeth passed away on January 21, 2010.  She did not get mentioned in the article, but she should have!  All of you shrimp farmers who knew her know that she was the rock behind all our ventures and always contributed in anyway she could.  She was a tireless worker, the more difficult our surroundings the more she seemed to like it.  We had just talked over the holidays about life here in the USA.  She and I agreed that we were just about ready to go back to some God forsaken country and do some good.  She wanted to use her teaching skills to educate some of the less fortunate.  She died too young and is greatly missed by me, her family, her friends and her students.”

Information: Russell Allen, President, Seafood Systems, Inc., 3450 Meridian Road, Okemos, Michigan 48863, USA (phone 1-517-347-5537, email shrimpone@aol.com).

Sources: 1. Entrepreneur (magazine).  An Unlikely Life Aquatic.  Tamera Nielsen.  Volume 38, Number 3, Page 17, March 2010.  2. Email to Shrimp News International from Russ Allen on February 24, 2010.  3. Bob Rosenberry, Shrimp News International, February 25, 2010.

Country Reports

Bangladesh

Saltwater Intrusion

On February 15, 2010, The High Court (the equivalent of the U.S. Supreme Court) ordered the Government to stop shrimp farmers from poisoning agricultural land with salty water, saying the practice was a gross violation of environmental law.  Justices Syed Mahmub Hossain and ATM Fazle Kabir issued the order after receiving a petition from the Bangladesh Environment Lawyers Association (BELA).  All government entities in the coastal sector have been asked to implement the order.

On January 10, 2010, The High Court asked the Government why shrimp farming on coastal farmland should not be banned.  The Government did not respond.

In July 2009, BELA demanded an end to marine shrimp farming on agricultural lands in Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira provinces—until the farms received clearance from the Department of Environment.

Source: BDNews24.com.  Stop Shrimp Farmers Poisoning Cropland: HC to Govt.  February 15, 2010.

Canada/Ecuador

2007 Recall Based on Wrong Data

On November 16, 2007, Shrimp News published the following item:

“M&M Meat Shop in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, has recalled packages of its breaded coconut shrimp because they contained nitrofurans (banned antibiotics).  The product, produced by Henry H. Misner, Ltd., in Port Dover, Ontario, Canada, originated in Ecuador.  The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) discovered the nitrofurans during routine testing.”

On February 9, 2010, Sarah Misner, who is associated with Henry H. Misner, Ltd., reported:

“This [the above item] caused some problems for our company as well as some Ecuadorean shrimp processors.”

“In regards to the CFIA shrimp recall showing the presence of nitrofurons in the breaded shrimp, subsequent lab tests showed the raw shrimp to be free of this substance while the breading used (manufactured in Ontario) contained this substance as allowed by CFIA.  This caused a national recall of the finished product.  It was neither Henry H. Misner’s fault nor the Ecuador shrimp supplier’s fault.  CFIA never tested the raw shrimp...only the breading and coconut were tested...therefore the breading produced the false positive which caused the recall.”

Information: Peter Misner, Vice President, Henry H. Misner, Ltd., 469 Norfolk Street North, Simcoe, Ontario, Canada N3Y 3P8 (phone 519-426-5546, email henryhmisnerltd@bellnet.ca).

Sources: 1. CBC News.  M&M Meat Shops offer refund for recalled shrimp (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2007/11/06/shrimp-recall.html - skip300x250).  November 6, 2007.  2. Email from Sarah Misner to Shrimp News International on February 9, 2010.

Cuba

The Shrimp Company of the South Coastal

The Shrimp Company of the South Coastal (CALISUR), located in Río Cauto, Granma Province, has 636 workers and almost one thousand hectares of ponds.  It’s the biggest shrimp farm in Cuba, with forty percent of the country’s production of farmed shrimp.  Fidel Castro inaugurated it in December 1986.

Source: Cuba Headline News.  Granma Increases Shrimp Farming.  February 11, 2010.

Ecuador

Wanted—Names of the Top Ecuadorean Shrimp Processors

I would like to introduce our company, Golden Fish Import-Export Company.  We are one of Egypt’s leading seafood importers.  We already trade with the USA, Canada, Korea, Japan, Holland, Norway, Scotland, Ireland and Thailand—by whole vessel and by containers.  Now we want to import large quantities of quality frozen shrimp from Ecuador.  How do I locate the top shrimp exporters in Ecuador?

Information: Mohamed Taher, Golden Fish Import-Export Company, Omar Makram Street, Damietta, Egypt (phone +20122160273, email goldenfish2001@hotmail.com).

Source: Email to Shrimp News International from Mohamed Taher on February 17, 2010.

Ireland

Shrimp Genetics

A new journal, Reviews in Aquaculture, has published a special issue on the use and exchange of genetic resources in aquaculture.  You can download all the articles in the special issue by clicking on the link in the first Source below.  One of the articles, Use and Exchange of Genetic Resources of Penaeid Shrimps for Food and Aquaculture by John A. H. Benzie, provides a great summary of who’s doing what with penaeid genetics around the world.  Here’s some information from the abstract:

Penaeus (Litopenaeus) vannamei Boone 1931 and Penaeus monodon Fabricius 1798 account for 87% of the world’s farmed shrimp.

Add in the following five species and you get 99% of the World’s production of farmed shrimp:

Penaeus (Fenneropenaeus) chinensis Osbeck 1765

Penaeus (Fenneropenaeus) indicus Milne-Edwards 1837

Penaeus (Fenneropenaeus) merguiensis de Man 1888

Penaeus (Litopenaeus) stylirostris Stimpson 1874

Penaeus (Marsupenaeus) japonicus Bate 1888.

To date, domesticated strains have played a dominant role in seed production for only P. vannamei and P. stylirostris.  Extensive worldwide transfer of wild and domesticated stocks has occurred for both species and for P. monodon, but the volume and extent of the transfer of the other species is less.  Genetic variation in wild stocks does not appear to be threatened, but variation within cultured stocks is often reduced relative to the wild and has affected performance in some (now mostly defunct) farmed populations.

Hybridization is not effective in producing useful shrimp strains.

There is no organized banking of penaeid shrimp genetic resources, either as live shrimp, frozen tissue, tissue or cell culture or DNA.  Open access DNA sequences are available, although limited for most species.  Expressed sequence tags and large insert libraries are available only for P. vannamei and P. monodon.

Sources: 1. Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific Webpage.  Genetics and Biodiversity: Use and Exchange of Aquatic Genetic Resources—Free Downloads.  February 17, 2010.  2. Reviews in Aquaculture.  Use and Exchange of Genetic Resources of Penaeid Shrimps for Food and Aquaculture.  John A. H. Benzie (Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland; and Moana Technologies LLC, Kailua Kona, Hawaii 96740, USA, email j.benzie@ucc.ie).  Volume 1, Issues 3–4, Pages 232 to 250, September–December 2009.

Japan

Wholesale Shrimp Prices

The National Marine Fisheries Service Office in San Diego, USA, posts monthly wholesale frozen shrimp prices from the Tokyo Central Wholesale Market to its website.  Prices are in yen and kilograms on mostly headless product from Indonesia, Malaysia, India, The Philippines and Thailand.

Click here to check wholesale frozen shrimp prices in Japan.

Source: Southwest Regional Office of NOAA.  National Marine Fisheries Service.  Tokyo Wholesale Shrimp Prices.  Sunee C. Sonu.  February 1, 2010.

Malaysia

Blue Archipelago Starts Construction

On February 10, 2010, the Fajarbaru Builder Group, Bhd., said that it had won a one-year, $20.4 million contract from Blue Archipelago, Bhd., for the construction of the first phase of Blue Archipelago’s tiger shrimp farm in Setiu, Terengganu.

Source: Business Times.  Fajarbaru Wins Contract.  February 11, 2010.

Myanmar

Vietnam Helping with Lobster Farming

In January 2010 [?], the Myanmar Fisheries Federation (MFF) signed an agreement with Vietnamese shipbuilding company Vung Tau to work on the breeding of a number of fish and lobster species.

Vung Tau will provide broodstock from Vietnam to hatcheries in Myanmar.

Lobster farming will be carried out in 2,000 hectares of water that surround six small islands.

Source: The Myanmar Times.  Fisheries Deal Reached with Vietnam.  Juliet Shwe Gaung.  Volume 26, Number 509.  No Date.  Website Visit on February 10, 2010.

Saudi Arabia

National Prawn Company

Engineer Ahmad bin Rasheed Al Balaa, general manager of the National Prawn Company, the most successful shrimp farm in the Middle East, says the company’s processing plant cost $1.3 million and currently employs a staff of 20 (all-female).  “Our main goal from this cooperation is to develop the skills of women in a conservative atmosphere that fits our religious teachings and traditions.  The main aim is to assist families get a better income and for society to develop,” he said.

Source: Al Bawaba.  National Prawn Company Creates Employment Opportunities for Al Leith Locals.  February 14, 2010.

Thailand

CPF and AKVA to Develop New Shrimp Recirc System

Charoen Pokphand Foods, Ltd. (CPF), the world’s leading producer and supplier of farmed white shrimp, and the AKVA Group, a Norwegian aquaculture technology supplier, have signed an agreement to develop a new recirculation system for the production of white shrimp utilizing AKVA’s technology and CPF’s broad knowledge of shrimp farming.

Dr. Chingchai Lohanawatanakul, chairman of the CPF’s executive board, said: “This strategic cooperation agreement with AKVA is an important step for us in our efforts towards a transformation of the shrimp farming industry.  By this project we are addressing important issues for the industry such as: the level at which marine resource and land areas are utilized, the escape of shrimp from farms..., the control of diseases and efficient battling of parasites, and the elimination of...pollution from shrimp farms....  Further to this we believe that the technology that this strategic cooperation agreement will produce has the potential to limit the carbon footprint of the produced shrimp significantly.”

The first step of the partnership will be a full-scale prototype of a 200-ton-year intensive facility for white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei).  Knut Molaug, CEO of the AKVA Group, said, “For the AKVA Group, this is an important step forward in our development in the Asian market and the furthering of our recirculation technology in the global market.  We appreciate the initiatives and eagerness that CPF is showing in this project and are looking forward to the results from this cooperation for both parties.”

Source: FishNewsEu.com.  CP Foods and AKVA to Develop Recirc Shrimp Systems.  February 12, 2010.

Thailand

The Risk of Transmitting the Yellowhead Virus on Processed Shrimp

From Abstract: “The aim of this study was to examine whether shrimp yellowhead virus (YHV) from processed shrimp tissue infected at the pre-patent disease level [the period between the very beginning of an infection and the onset of symptoms] could be transmitted to naïve shrimp in a laboratory setting.  In a preliminary test, 120 YHV-free shrimp were injected intramuscularly with a virulent YHV stock to yield 5 × 105 (pre-patent disease level) and 2,500 (carrier level) viral copies/g shrimp tissue (60 shrimp each dose).  These are possible infection levels for grossly normal shrimp from normal harvest ponds (i.e., not shrimp from disease outbreak ponds).  These yielded 1-step and 2-step positive (nested) RT-PCR reactions, respectively, in pleopods at 6 h post-injection of the viral stock.  After being subjected to standard industrial processing conditions, only fresh frozen whole or peeled shrimp injected with pre-patent dose gave positive RT-PCR test results for YHV.  None of the naïve shrimp exposed to the chopped processed products for 24 h and then reared on a standard diet for 14 days showed any significant mortality or gave any positive test results for YHV using nested RT-PCR assays.”

“Based on these preliminary test results, a large-scale test was carried out using only the high, pre-patent injection dose with 1,000 fresh frozen whole shrimp.  The negative control consisted of 1,000 buffer-injected shrimp.  A random sample of 60 shrimp from the YHV-injected group after processing revealed 57 positive for YHV by 1-step RT-PCR assay.  Of the 3 remaining, 2 were positive and 1 negative by nested RT-PCR assay.  All 60 shrimp from the buffer-injected control group were negative for YHV by nested RT-PCR assay.  Exposure of these whole shrimp to naïve shrimp resulted in no significant mortality and no positive RT-PCR test results for YHV by nested RT-PCR assay in the exposed naïve shrimp.”

“Our results showed that grossly normal whole shrimp processed by chilling and freezing would present negligible YHV disease transmission risks, even if they were 1-step RT-PCR positive for YHV.  Thus, shrimp subjected to any additional processing steps such as peeling or cooking should present even lower transmission risks.”

Source: Aquaculture.  Yellow Head Virus (YHV) Transmission Risk from Commodity Shrimp Is Reduced to Negligible Levels by Normal Processing.  Kallaya Sritunyalucksana (kallaya@biotec.or.th), Jiraporn Srisala, Watcharakorn Wangnaic and Timothy Flegel (Center of Excellence for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Rama VI Road, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand, phone +66-2-2015869, fax +66-2-3547344).  Volume 300, Issues 1-4, Pages 32–36, February 27, 2010.

United States

California—San Diego, Detailed WAS Program Scheduler

John Cooksey, conference manager at the World Aquaculture Society, writes: Aquaculture 2010 is just a few days away.  There’s a new feature on the WAS website called the “Detailed Program Schedule” that will help you plan your daily activities in San Diego.  For example, using the schedule, you can see all the talks in all of the rooms at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 2, 2010.  You can also search for all the talks at a particular time.  You can even click on a presentation’s title to read the abstract.

To check out the program scheduler, click on the following link:

https://www.was.org/WasMeetings/meetings/ProgramDayGrid.aspx?Code=AQ2010

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

Source: Email to Shrimp News International from John Cooksey on February 23, 2010.

United States

North Carolina—Compass, Foodbuy, Contessa and the Monterey Bay Aquarium

On February 11, 2010, Compass Group USA, Foodbuy LLC, and Contessa Premium Foods announced sustainable purchasing standards for imported farmed shrimp.  Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program has endorsed their standards and independent, third-party audits.

Compass Group and Contessa developed the purchasing standards in collaboration with the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  By applying the standards to specific shrimp farms and by including a third-party process to verify that the standards are being applied in the field, Contessa met Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch criteria for a “Good Alternative” ranking.

“Monterey Bay Aquarium has been a highly valued partner with Compass in developing our entire sustainable seafood program,” said Marc Zammit, vice president of sustainability initiatives for Compass.  “It has worked closely with us and Contessa over several years in an intensive program that included in-country testing, as well as independent confirmation.”

The sustainable shrimp purchasing standards advocate a procurement policy that supports ecologically responsible aquaculture practices.  Core practices of sustainable shrimp aquaculture include maintaining mangrove ecosystems, minimizing other ecosystem impacts, eliminating antibiotic use, reducing excessive reliance on feed from wild sources and promoting overall compliance with local, national and international laws.

The standards also require product traceability back to the source, to ensure that 100 percent of the shrimp sold to Compass comes from farms that meet its sustainable purchasing standards.

Under these standards, Contessa will be the exclusive supplier of sustainable shrimp for the Compass Group and Foodbuy.

The Compass Group: Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Compass Group North America is a leading foodservice and support services company with $9.2 billion in revenues in 2009.  With 386,000 associates worldwide, its parent company, UK-based Compass Group, PLC, had revenues of $21 billion in the first nine months of 2009.

Foodbuy, LLC: Foodbuy, LLC, is the largest Group Purchasing Company (GPO) for high volume multi-unit food operators in North America.  Foodbuy purchases thousands of food and non-food items from a select number of quality suppliers and works with primary and secondary suppliers for most categories.  Its procurement office is located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is responsible for negotiating significant savings by focusing on the purchasing needs of multi-unit operators on a category-by-category basis.

Contessa Premium Foods, Inc.: Contessa Premium Foods is an environmentally and nutritionally responsible food manufacturer.  It produces high-quality frozen seafood, prepared meals and exotic vegetables for retail, club, foodservice, military and private label channels.  Contessa is recognized globally for exceeding industry standards and celebrated for its product innovation, premium quality and environmental contribution.  In 2007, Contessa built the world’s first green LEED-certified frozen-food manufacturing plant.  It is 100% carbon neutral and reduces energy use and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by 65% daily.

Monterey Bay Aquarium: The mission of the nonprofit Monterey Bay Aquarium is to inspire conservation of the oceans.  The Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program empowers seafood consumers and businesses to make choices for healthy oceans.  In doing so, the program works to transform seafood markets in ways that create incentives for sustainable fishing and aquaculture practices.

Source: EarthTimes.org.  Compass Group, Contessa Announce Sustainable Farmed-Shrimp Purchasing Standards.  February 11, 2010.

United States

Washington DC—Easy to Use Shrimp Import Data

If you are looking for information on USA shrimp imports, there is no easier place to find it than the National Marine Fisheries Service’s webpage, which makes it easier than a Google search.  Just select the year and month you’re interested in, and then click “Go”.  That’s it.  Instantly, a nifty table, organized by countries appears.  You can sort the table’s columns by clicking on their headings.  To give it a try click here.

Source: NOAA Fisheries: Office of Science & Technology.  Website visit.  February 10, 2010.

Vietnam

Taiwan’s Uni-President Group

The Uni-President Group, Taiwan’s leading food producer, is building a $140 million feed plant in northcentral Vietnam.  Once volume production begins in March 2011, the plant will make Uni-President the largest aqua feed producer in Vietnam.  Its market share will jump from 35 percent to 60 percent.

Uni-President, which already has two aquaculture feed mills in Vietnam, said aquaculture is Vietnam’s third-largest foreign exchange earner.  With the establishment of a third mill, the group will be able to ramp up production to 100,000 metric tons a year.

Uni-President has now invested in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines and is profitable in all four.  An institutional investor estimated Uni-President would very likely eclipse $300 million in pretax profits in 2009.

Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service).  Taiwan’s Uni-President Group Investing in Large Aquaculture Feed Plant in Vietnam’s North.  Ken Coons (phone 1-781-861-1441, email kencoons@seafood.com).  Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 1-781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com).  February 10, 2010.

Yemen

A Billion Dollars for Fish and Shrimp

Sana’a...The Capital...on February 10, 2010, Minister of Fisheries Mohamed Shamlan met with General Managers of the Saudi Arabia’s National Prawn Company (NPC) and the Global MAM Corporation.

At the meeting, Shamlan and the companies discussed practical procedures for implementing investment projects in fisheries and shrimp farming worth $1 billion.  The projects will include the establishment of laboratories, processing centers, fishing fleets, information exchange and resource management.

“The state will present all kinds of support to the projects”, confirmed Shamlan, calling upon the global investment community to investigate the advantages of investing in Yemen’s fishery sector.

Source: Yemen News Agency.  Procedures to Set UP $ 1 Bin Fisheries Projects Discussed.  February 10, 2010.