In Carting Away the Oceans: How Grocery Stores are Emptying the Seas, a 70-page report, Greenpeace (“the leading independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful direct action and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and to promote solutions that are essential to a green peaceful future”) ranks 20 USA supermarkets on their sustainable seafood policies.  As might have been expected, Whole Foods Market, the Texas-based chain of grocery stores that sells natural and organic products, got the top score, but only a 36 out of a 100.

The report is based on a review of publicly available information on supermarkets’ seafood policies, supermarkets’ websites, corporate social responsibility reports, annual reports, press statements, and surveys of what was available at the stores.  During the review, supermarkets were then given the opportunity to update and correct any information through written comments and in meetings with Greenpeace.

Species Red List

In conjunction with the report, Greenpeace developed a species Red List to identify fisheries and farming practices that are clearly the most damaging and in need of immediate attention.

Shrimp—“tropical shrimp, farmed and wild, Penaeus spp, Metapenaeus monoceros, Pandalus jordani and Pandalus borealis”—is one of the twenty-two species (mostly fish) on the Red List.

Click here to download a PDF copy of Carting Away the Oceans: How Grocery Stores are Emptying the Seas.

Information: John Hocevar, Greenpeace, 702 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 USA (phone 800-326-0959, email info@wdc.greenpeace.org, webpage http://www.greenpeace.org/usa).

NFI Slams Greenpeace Retail Survey

The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) slammed the Greenpeace retail survey, saying it lacks credibility because it doesn’t use science-based standards to measure the retailers’ performances.  “Unfortunately, as we suspected it is merely another example of Greenpeace’s failure to responsibly engage the seafood community in a constructive dialogue about sustainability,” NFI said.

“Consumers should know that the retailer rankings presented in this report have no credibility.  The nonscience-based standards by which Greenpeace came to its conclusions highlight the weaknesses in its efforts and undermine the entire project.”

Half of the 20 nationwide retailers assessed received an overall sustainability rating of “one”, the lowest score possible.  In addition to the nationwide scorecard, Greenpeace launched a section on its Web site where consumers can search for rankings specific to their state.

Information: John Connelly, President, National Fisheries Institute, 7918 Jones Beach Drive, Suite 700, McLean, VA 22102 USA (phone 703-752-8880, email jconnelly@nfi.org, webpage http://www.aboutseafood.com).

SeaFood Business Comments on Greenpeace Survey

Fiona Robinson, Editor of SeaFood Business, reports: Greenpeace never does anything quietly, so it was no surprise when the group’s report on sustainable seafood programs at USA supermarkets was debuted with lots of advance buzz.  The activist NGO (nongovernmental organization) played its cards right by alerting the industry when the report would be out.  By the time Carting Away the Oceans: How Grocery Stores are Emptying the Seas was unveiled June 17, 2008, at the Food Marketing Institute’s Sustainability Summit in Minneapolis, most large retailers and their seafood suppliers knew about it already.

In the public relations game, the industry and Greenpeace are tied at one point apiece.  Score one point for the National Fisheries Institute, which appropriately alerted its membership that the list was coming out and offered good pointers on how to deal with Greenpeace and any negative feedback from retail customers about the campaign.

While some will say this is pandering to what has been called an eco-terrorist group, score one point for Greenpeace for bringing retail sustainability programs to the forefront.  Some retailers may not move forward on developing a sustainable seafood program, or even publicizing one that may already exist, unless they’re held accountable.  Several large foodservice companies have unveiled purchasing programs geared toward sustainable seafood, but where have the large supermarket chains been?  Aside from Wal-Mart, the retail arena has remained relatively quiet on the topic.  If that job of accountability has to be at least started by Greenpeace, so be it.

Information: Fiona Robinson, SeaFood Business, 121 Free Street, Portland, ME 04112 USA (phone 207-842-5500, fax 207-842-5505, email frobinson@divcom.com, webpage http://seafoodbusiness.com).

Sources: 1. Carting Away the Oceans: How Grocery Stores are Emptying the Seas.  Greenpeace.  June 2008.  2. The Wave (an online, subscription-based news service published by IntraFish Media, Norway ).  Editorial Director, John Fiorillo (phone 206-282-3474, extension 25, cell 206-963-5732, fax 206-282-3470, email john.fiorillo@intrafish.com ).  UPDATE: Greenpeace flunks U.S. retailers in seafood ranking.  June 17, 2008.  3. SeafoodSource.com.  PR Scorecard: Greenpeace 1, Industry 1.  Fiona Robinson.  June 18, 2008.

Country Reports

Brazil

No Shrimp Shipments to the USA for One Year

The USA Department of Commerce has halted a review of dumping duties on Brazilian shrimp after discovering that there were no shipments to the USA from Brazil between February 1, 2007, and January 31, 2008.  After the USA slapped heavy duties on Brazilian shrimp in 2005, Brazil found good markets for its shrimp elsewhere around the world, but mostly it boosted domestic consumption, and now Brazil consumes most of its farmed shrimp at home.

Source: The Wave (an online, subscription-based news service published by IntraFish Media, Norway).  Editorial Director, John Fiorillo (phone 206-282-3474, extension 25, cell 206-963-5732, fax 206-282-3470, email john.fiorillo@intrafish.com).  U.S. rescinds Brazil shrimp antidumping review.  Ben DiPietro.  June 17, 2008.

Brazil

Guabi Animal Nutrition

Guabi has the most advanced extruded shrimp feed in the world.  It uses a high-tech process that produces a 100% sinking extruded feed.

Information: Guabi Animal Nutrition, Campinas, SP, Brazil (phone 55-19-3729-4469 and 55-19-3729-4450, email comex@guabi.com.br, webpage http://www.guabi.com).

Source: The Global Aquaculture Advocate.  Editor, Darryl Jory (dejry2525@aol.com).  Advertisement: Guabi Animal Nutrition.  Volume 11, Issue 3, Page 17, May/June 2008.

China

USA Inspectors in China by Year’s End

The Associated Press reports: The United States expects to have food and drug inspectors in three Chinese cities by the end of 2008, Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said on June 17, 2008.  Leavitt, participating in two days of high-level economic discussions with Chinese officials, told reporters that the Chinese government had given approval for plans to allow USA inspectors in three Chinese cities: Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.  He said the inspectors should be in place “soon”, which he defined as before the end of the year.  He said the plans involved placing nine to twelve USA inspectors in each of the cities.

The head of the Chinese agency in charge of guaranteeing the safety and quality of food, however, said the issue had not been totally resolved because USA authorities have not given permission to allow Chinese food and drug inspectors into the United States.

Source: SeafoodSource.com.  U.S. to Place Food Inspectors in China by Year’s End.  Associated Press/AP Online.  June 18, 2008.

India

New Book on Freshwater Prawn Farming

According to the latest statistics (FAO Fishstat Plus 2008), farmed production of all species of Macrobrachium was over 440,000 metric tons in 2006, with a value exceeding $1.76 billion.

Macrobrachium: The Culture of Freshwater Prawns is a new book by Michael New, C.M. Nair, M.N. Kutty, K.R. Salin and M.C. Nandeesha, published by Macmillan India, Ltd., in 2008.

Modestly priced at $25 (plus postage and packing), it is available from Dr. C. Mohanakumaran Nair (naircm@hotmail.com).  A reference volume and practical manual, it focuses on freshwater prawn farming in India, but also includes information on the current situation in other prawn-farming countries.

Source: Email from Michael New (Aquaculture Without Frontiers, email michaelnew339@btinternet.com) to Shrimp News International.  Subject: New Macrobrachium Book.  Press Release.  June 21, 2008.

Israel

Asian Bioflockers

Dr. Yoram Avnimelech has taken the lead in the bio-floc aquaculture movement.  He is head of the Sea of Galilee Watershed Research Unit, Chief Scientist of the Israeli Ministry of the Environment, and Dean of the Department of Agricultural Engineering at Technion (the Israel Institute of Technology).

He reports: We had a bio-floc session at the World Aquaculture Society Meeting in Korea (Busan, May 2008).  Many of the participants were from Asia and had not been exposed to bio-floc aquaculture previously.  Following the session, we had a meeting of interested people and established an Asian Chapter of the Bio Floc Technology Working Group.  Here are the organizing committee members:

Qiufen Li (liqf@ysfri.ac.cn), Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, China.

Angelito O. Aboag (lito.aboag@binovar.com), Binovar International, Ltd., Singapore.

Anil Ghanekar (anilghanekar@yahoo.com), Ecosecure Systems, India.

Yuan-Nan Chu (ynchu@ccms.ntu.edu.tw), National Taiwan University, Taiwan.

Nyan Taw (nyan.taw@global2solve.com and nyantaw@hotmail.com), PT Luxindo Internusa, Indonesia.

Yoram Avnimelech (agyoram@tx.technion.ac.il), Israel Institute of Technology, Israel.

Three years ago, Avnimelech established a bio-floc working group within the Aquaculture Engineering Society, which you can visit at http://floc.aesweb.org.  Avnimelech has been asked to organize a bio-floc session for the World Aquaculture Society meeting scheduled for Veracruz, Mexico, in May 2009.

Information: Yoram Avnimelech, Professor, Emeritus, Dept of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000 Israel (phone 972-(0)-3-752-2406, fax 972-(0)-3-613-1669, agyoram@tx.technion.ac.il).

Source: Email from Yoram Avnimelech with attachment: Bio Floc Technology Working Group, Asian Chapter, to Shrimp News International on June 21, 2008.

Myanmar

Shrimp Farm Workers Not Counted Among the Dead

In an article on the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, the New York Times reported: “In a country that has not had a full census in decades, it is not even certain how many people had been living in the area before the storm.  Itinerants who worked in the salt marshes and shrimp farms were probably not counted among the dead, aid workers say.”

Source: The New York Times.  Burmese Endure in Spite of Junta, Aid Workers Say.  June 18, 2008.

Oman

Has License, Wants Joint Venture Partner

The Sultanate of Oman has granted us a shrimp farming license.  We are searching for a credible company with experience in the business that might like to joint venture with us.

Information: Mr. Shahnawaz Al Balushi, P.O. Box 1088, Postal Code 131, Al Hamriya Muscat, The Sultanate of Oman (mobile phone +968-95208550, fax +968-24593100, email janbek3@hotmail.com).

Source: Email to Shrimp News International from Shahnawaz Al Balushi.  Subject: Shrimp farm joint venture.  June 21, 2008.

Saudi Arabia

Two Jobs for Experienced PhDs

Job One: SPF Production/Genetic Selection/Shrimp Hatchery/Shrimp Farming.

Job Two: Histopathology/Immunochemistry/Virology/Chemistry/Haematology/Shrimp Farming/ShrimpHatchery/Specific Pathogen Free Production.

Information: Ranjit (ranjits55@hotmail.com).  The closing date for both jobs is August 1, 2008.

Sources: 1. 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.  QA Officer—Biosecured Breeding Programme & R&D.  Posted: June 18, 2008.  2. AquaNic.  Jobs Directory in cooperation with the WAS Employment Service.  Search jobs.  Pathologist.  Posted: June 18, 2008.

Thailand

Farmers Quitting the Business

High production costs and declining shrimp prices are forcing many shrimp farmers in Phang Nga Province (southwest Thailand, on the Andaman Sea) out of business.  Niwat Srisdiphan, chairman of the provincial shrimp farming association, said the number of shrimp farmers in the province had declined from 500 to 300, adding that those who remain in the business are suffering financially.  Niwat called for the government to step in to assist the farmers with price guarantees, stressing that the money must benefit the farmers, not middlemen or the processing companies.

The Phang Nga Internal Trade Office is arranging an “Economical Price Shrimp Market” [sale] every Thursday at the Kanjanpisek Public Park in the city of Phang Nga to encourage domestic consumption of shrimp.

Source: Thai News (Public Relations Department of the National News Bureau).  Phang Nga authority arranged a shrimp market place in support of consumers and farmers.  June 17, 2008.

United States

Hawaii—Kauai Shrimp Quarantined, See News Video

On June 16, 2008, the Department of Agriculture put Limaloa Farm on the island of Kauai under quarantine after one of its four ponds tested positive for the whitespot syndrome virus.  The farm stopped all shipments as soon as the disease was detected on June 12, 2008, and will continue to do so until further notice.

In 2004, when the farm belonged to Ceatech USA, it was hit with whitespot, which forced it into bankruptcy.

Sources: 1. KGMB9.com (a TV station).  Kauai Shrimp Farm Under Quarantine.  June 16, 2008.  2. The Garden Island.  State quarantines shrimp farm.  June 17, 2008.

United States

Kentucky—Stocking Density, Light Intensity and Zero Exchange

The majority of research on heterotrophic systems has been performed in greenhouses in tropical or subtropical environments.  In temperate regions, insulated agricultural buildings, such as those used for growing poultry or swine, would provide more economical temperature control.  However, natural sunlight may be important to these complex microbial populations.  The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects and interactions of stocking density and light level on the growth and survival of Penaeus vannamei in zero-exchange, heterotrophic systems.

Twelve, 3,800-litter, conical-bottom tanks housed in a greenhouse were filled with dechlorinated city water.  A salinity of 25 ppt was obtained using a commercial salt mix.  Each tank was inoculated with heterotrophic bacteria and randomly assigned one of four treatments:

• Low-density (139 shrimp/m²), natural-light (718 lux at midday)

• Low-density, low-light (50 lux) intensity

• High-density (278 shrimp/m²), natural-light

• High-density, low-light intensity

Black plastic covered one half of the greenhouse and a single, 60-watt incandescent light bulb on a 12h/12h schedule was used as a light source for each low light tank.  The other half of the greenhouse was uncovered and received natural sunlight.  Penaeus vannamei (0.40 ± 0.28 grams) were stocked into each tank according to density and fed twice daily using Zeigler’s hyper-intensive shrimp feed.  Dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH and salinity were monitored twice daily and ammonia-nitrogen and nitrite-nitrogen were tested three times a week.  Total suspended solids were measured once daily.

After 12 weeks, there was a statistically significant (P<0.05) interaction between density and light level for survival, average weight and harvest weight (biomass).  Survival was significantly higher in both low-density treatments (89% to 90%) than in the high-density, low-light treatment (74%).  Survival in the high-density, natural-light treatment was not significantly different than other treatments.  Average weights ranged from 12.4 to 14.5 grams and were lowest in the low-density, low-light tanks and highest in the low-density, natural-light treatment.  Significant differences (P<0.05) in harvested biomass density were evident between all four treatments.  Lowest production occurred in the low-density, low-light treatment (1.7 kg/m²); followed by the low-density, natural-light treatment (1.8 kg/m²); high-density, low-light treatment (2.5 kg/m²); and high-density, natural-light treatment (3.2 kg/m²).  Natural light increased production 10% at low density and 25% at high density.  Future research should investigate how light spectrum and intensity affects the microbial population of these systems.

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 http://www.was.org).

Source: World Aquaculture Society.  The CD of Aquaculture 2008 America (Orlando, Florida, USA, February 2008).  Abstract 257.  Evaluation of Stocking Density and Light Intensity on the Growth and Survival of the Pacific White Shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei Reared in Zero Exchange Systems.  Russell S. Neal (russell.neal@kysu.edu), Brian M. Boudreau, Shawn D. Coyle and James H. Tidwell (Aquaculture Research Center, Kentucky State University, Frankfort, KY 40601 USA).

United States

Mississippi—Gulf Coast Research Lab, Bait Shrimp

Dr. Jeff Lotz, who chairs the Coastal Sciences Division of the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Lab, says, “We’re looking at the possibility of raising bait shrimp for commercial production.”

Source: WLOX 13 (a TV station).  GCRL Cedar Point Campus Expanding.  Steve Phillips.  June 16, 2008.

United States

Missouri—Global Aquaculture Alliance

In a recent submission to the USA Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Third-Party Certification Programs for Foods and Feeds, the Global Aquaculture Alliance outlined its ongoing work with FDA and explained the structure and benefits of BAP certification.  Since 2000, GAA has collaborated with FDA on seafood safety and is now developing a food safety verification program to enhance FDA’s supply chain model.

GAA said BAP certification allows processors to better supply the growing demand for “green” seafood and provides farmers with improved operating efficiency through the application of documented process controls that promote sustainability.

Information: Global Aquaculture Alliance, 5661 Telegraph Road, Suite 3A, St. Louis, MO 63129 USA (phone 314-293-5500, fax 314-293-5525, email homeoffice@gaalliance.org, website http://www.gaalliance.org).

Source: Email to Shrimp News International from The Global Aquaculture Alliance.  Best Aquaculture Practices News (“Wholesome Seafood Responsibly Produced”).  Subject: BAP News—June 24, 2008/GAA Submits Comments on Certification to USFDA.  June 24, 2008.

United States

Washington State—Ken Talley on Shrimp Prices

The West Coast pink shrimp fishery is up over a year ago.  While landings are strong now, demand is fairly robust and prices up thanks to the large volume of big shrimp.  Oregon is leading the way with 7.2 million pounds of shrimp delivered through May.  This compares to the 3.9 million pounds at the same time last year.  The ex-vessel price is holding at $0.50 a pound for smaller shrimp and $0.57 a pound for larger shrimp.  Washington landings are considerably lower than Oregon’s but they are higher than last year.  Through May, Washington shrimpers landed 1.3 million pounds of shrimp, well up from the 472,934 pounds of last year.  May landings are preliminary and may be revised upward.

Demand for West Coast pink shrimp is strong and wholesale prices reflect this.  For example, frozen 250–350 count pinks are going for $3.75 a pound and 350–500 counts are going for about $3 a pound, FOB West Coast.  These prices are about $1 a pound higher than they were a year ago.  Fresh shrimp is causing a buzz at retail markets.

As landings from the Gulf of Mexico continue to fall below recent years, prices show strong gains.  In April 2008, shrimpers landed only 10.4 million pounds of shrimp, all species, compared to 13.1 million pounds in April 2007.  This has resulted in cumulative landings of 19.8 million pounds, down from 22.9 million pounds last year, which was the lowest total in four years.  With the lower landings have come higher prices.  In April 2008, shrimpers received $4.02 a pound on average for shrimp, up 10.7% from last year.  This has translated into higher prices at wholesale.  White shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico, for example, are averaging $5.62 a pound, an increase of 19.1% over last year.

Gulf shrimp certified as “Wild American Shrimp” are featured by high-end West Coast retailers for $6.99 to $11.99 a pound, depending on size.  Even noncertified Gulf shrimp are attracting attention.  One marketer is moving small volumes of Gulf whites to the restaurant trade on the West Coast.  Marketers hope for success by pushing “wild” and “domestic” attributes.

Source: Seafood Trend Newsletter (independent coverage of the seafood market since 1984, 8227 Ashworth Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98103-4434 USA, phone 206-523-2280, fax 206-526-8719, email seafoodtrend@aol.com).  Editor, Ken Talley.  June 23, 2008.

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