Country Reports

Belize

Shrimp Exports Disrupted by Storm

Belize is in a state of emergency after being hit by tropical storm Arthur, which destroyed the main bridge between the northern and southern parts of the country.  Until the waters subside enough for a temporary bridge to be built, California-based CleanFish, an importer of fresh “Laughing Bird Caribbean White Shrimp”, says it will not receive shipments from Belize.  CleanFish hopes to start getting shipments again in two weeks.

Source: Email to Shrimp News International from Sharon O’Malley (sharon@cleanfish.com) at CleanFish.  Subject: News from CleanFish: Loch Duart, Laughing Bird Shrimp and the Nunavuts!  June 6, 2008.

India

Third Round of Dumping Review, Mandatory Respondents Named

On April 17, 2008, the USA Department of Commerce initiated its third annual review of dumping duties on Indian shrimp exports.  It chose the country’s two largest exporters—Devi Sea Foods and Falcon Marine Exports—as mandatory respondents.

Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service).  U.S. Dept. of Commerce chooses two largest Indian shrimp exporters for 3rd administrative review.  Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com).  June 2, 2008.

Myanmar

Cyclone Nargis

According to a businessman involved in the export of shrimp to Thailand, many shrimp and prawn farms near Yangon and in the Irrawaddy Delta were destroyed or badly damaged by Cyclone Nargis.  “The cyclone is likely to have reduced this to a fraction of last year’s output and will severely dent the country’s export trade,” said the exporter who requested anonymity.

Source: Asian Times.  Second wave economic crisis in Myanmar.  Larry Jagan.  June 3, 2008.

Peru

Best Year Ever in 2008

In 2007, farmers produced approximately 10,000 metric tons of shrimp.  In 2008, production should hit a new record because production per hectare in some ponds has already increased by 47 percent.  Elie Barsimantov, general manager for Corporación Refrigerados INY, said buyers in the USA and Europe are beginning to show a preference for Peruvian product.  He said prices for Peruvian shrimp recently rose 35 percent.  In 2006, Peru sold 64% of its harvest to the USA.

Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service).  Peru set for record shrimp production; scallop prices rising also (Translated by Angel Rubio Canas).  Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com).  May 30, 2008.

Thailand

CP Foods

Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF), Thailand’s leading food producer and exporter, has successfully put its branded products on the shelves of more than 20,000 grocery stores around the world.  In the United States, its products are available at more than 4,000 leading retail chains, mostly in the Northeast, said Kritsada Mapaisarnsin, general manager of the trade division of CP Merchandising Company, a subsidiary of CPF.  Its shrimp products, such as wonton soup, are becoming popular among consumers in Texas, a major shrimp-producing state.

Pisit Ohmpornnuwat, president of CP Merchandising, said he hired Ogilvy & Mather, an advertising agency, and A.C. Nielsen, a market research firm, to determine which of its products had the most potential.  Recently, CPF’s shrimp wonton products won the Les Saveurs de l’Anneé (Taste of the Year) award at a competition for food processors in France.  There’s a huge demand for shrimp wonton, and CPF is exporting 500,000 bowls of it a day.  “We have had to dedicate one plant in Mahachai for cooking it,” Pisit said.  In addition to its established market in France, CPF plans to explore new markets in Scandinavia and elsewhere in Europe.  It plans to spend $6 to $9 million a year on advertisements and TV commercials to build its brand around the world, particularly in Asia.

Pisit added that CPF would sell about $83 million worth of branded products in 2008, up from $55 million in 2007.  In 2007, CPF’s total food export revenues, mostly bulk commodity shipments like shrimp, amounted to $1.2 billion.

Source: Bangkok Post.  Food Processing/CP brand making a big mark globally.  Walailak Keeratipipatpong.  May 31, 2008.

Thailand

Charoen Pokphand

Writing in the Global Aquaculture Advocate, the bimonthly magazine of the Global Aquaculture Alliance, Robins McIntosh, Senior Vice President of Shrimp Production Technology at Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF), said:

CPF’s genetic development program for shrimp has been positive for both disease resistance and growth rates.  Offspring from our original broodstock [imported from the USA in 2003] had an average 63% survival to the Taura virus in standard disease challenges.  Every year of breeding increased this resistance level, and in 2006, the average resistance to mortality from Taura in CPF’s white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) was 93%.  The use of these shrimp has made Taura a minor problem for most shrimp farmers in Thailand.

Charoen Pokphand evaluates the growth rates of shrimp in raceways stocked at 120 animals per square meter.  The offspring of broodstock imported in 2003 had average weekly growth rates of 1.3 grams (from 4 to 24 grams).  In 2006, weekly growth improved to 1.7 grams under the same culture conditions.

Another measurement of growth is the number of days required to grow shrimp to 24 grams.  In 2003, our original stocks required an average of 170 days from postlarvae to 24 grams.  In 2006, the average family from the CP breeding program required only 120 days to reach that size, and some animals from select families took only 90 days!

Farm production data at CP has also shown that in addition to postlarvae quality and genetics, factors like pond bottom type, pond depth, season and stocking density significantly affect shrimp growth.  Mean body weights over 25 grams with an average weekly growth of 1.7 grams were achieved in deep, plastic-lined ponds stocked in the months of April-July at densities below l00 animals per square meter.

Source: The Global Aquaculture Advocate.  Editor, Darryl Jory (dejry2525@aol.com).  Selective Breeding High-Efficiency Seedstock Production Boost Integrated Shrimp Farm Performance.  Robins McIntosh (Charoen Pokphand Foods Public, Co., Ltd., C.P. Tower, 27th Floor 313 Silom Road, Bangkok 10500 Thailand, email robmc101@yahoo.com).  Volume 11, Issue 3, Page 73, May/June 2008.

Thailand

Shrimp Farmers Demand Price Supports

On May 29, 2008, Thai shrimp farmers called on Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to help shore up shrimp prices.  Shrimp farmers all over the country were ready to make some “movements” [block roads] if their plea for help was not answered by the end of the month.

Shrimp farmers have been severely affected by a price slump on top of other problems including a higher cost of living and rising costs for gasoline and raw materials, said Ekapoj Yodpinij, a representative of the Thai Marine Shrimp Farmers Association (TSA) and president of the Surat Thani Shrimp Farmers Club.  He said shrimp prices were not realistic or sustainable when compared with the increased prices of other protein sources such as pork, chicken and fish.

On May 29, 2008, the farm-gate price for white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) was $3.07 a kilogram for 60 count shrimp, compared to $3.71 in 2006.

Source: The Bangkok Post.  Shrimpers pleading for help.  May 30, 2008.

Thailand

Krabi Shrimp Farmers Call for Government Support

Increases in fuel prices and declines in shrimp prices are forcing shrimp farmers in Krabi, a province on the southwest coast, to cry out for government assistance.  Pokklong Koedsuk, chairman of the provincial shrimp farmers’ club, says the farmers are facing big losses.  He says the number of active shrimp farms has dropped from 500 to 250.  He foresees provincial revenues dropping from $120 million in 2007 to $60 million in 2008.

Source: Thai News (Public Relations Department National News Bureau).  Krabi shrimp farmers call for government support as they face high production costs with low market prices of production.  June 5, 2008.

Thailand

Shrimp Farmers Threaten Road Block

Shrimp farmers in Thailand’s six southern provinces say they will block Tinsulanond Bridge in Songkhla Province unless the government does something to address the slump in shrimp prices.

Source: MCOT English News (The Thai News Agency).  Shrimp farmers in South threaten to blockade roads.  June 6, 2008.

Thailand

Shrimp Farmers Block Bridge, Then Withdraw

Hundreds of shrimp farmers blocked one lane of the Tinasulanond Bridge in Songkhla Province, demanding the government provide measures to address the slump in shrimp prices.  They dispersed after the government announced a short-term plan to alleviate the problem.

Internal Trade Department Director-General Yanyong Puangraj said the committee chaired by Commerce and Deputy Prime Minister Mingkwan Saengsuwan to oversee the farmers’ problems promised to guarantee the price of shrimp at $3.61 a kilogram.  The short-term price guarantee for 10,000 tons of shrimps nationwide was to take effect within 15 days.  The reports did not say to which sizes this applied, but it would be a farm-gate price.  “The guaranteed amount of assistance would be sufficient to alleviate the shrimp price crisis at the moment,” said Yanyong.

Source: MCOT News (Thai News Agency).  Shrimp farmers disperse after govt announces price guarantee.  June 6, 2008.

Thailand

Government Likely to Buy Shrimp Surplus

On May 30, 2008, the government bowed to calls from shrimp farmers and pledged to design a “shrimp mortgage program” to shore up falling prices.  [Under a shrimp mortgage program, the government would buy shrimp from farmers and put it in cold storage.]  After discussing the issue with the Agriculture Ministry, the Commerce Ministry said the shrimp industry was experiencing a price slump because of excessive supply.

The final decision on the mortgage scheme and the amount and price of the shrimp to be bought have yet to be reached, pending the return of Commerce Minister Mingkwan Sangsuwan, who is in Peru to attend a meeting of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) trade ministers.  The proposal must be approved by the Farmers Assistance Policy Committee chaired by Minister Mingkwan.

 In 2008, Thai shrimp production is projected to grow 6% to 530,000 metric tons, and exports are expected to reach 350,000 tons, according to the Thai Shrimp Association.  Domestic consumption hovers around 40,000 tons.  The Commerce Ministry will also discuss ways to promote domestic shrimp consumption with major retailers.

Source: Bangkok Post.  Shrimpers likely to get price guarantee.  Phusadee Arunmas.  May 31, 2008.

Thailand

Double Dealing the Yellowhead Virus

From Abstract: Yellowhead virus (YHV), an RNA virus in the order Nidovirales, causes mass mortalities in penaeid shrimp.  The original YHV outbreaks occurred in Thailand and Taiwan in 1990.  Several strains of YHV are found in Asia, but only the original strain, YHV-1, appears to be virulent.

In this study, researchers challenged 1-gram western white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) with a lethal dose of YHV-1 inoculum—combined with double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), which can trigger RNA interference (RNAi) and protect against disease.  Results showed that dsRNAs designed from the ORF3 and ORF1b regions of the YHV genome induced sequence-specific antiviral protection.

Fourteen days after RNA interference, the experimental shrimp had survival rates of 67% (ORF3/YHV) and 48% (ORF1b/YHV).  Although survivors looked normal, all were positive for YHV-1 when tested by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

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 World Aquaculture 2008 (Busan, South Korea, May 2008).  Page 25.  Injection of Non-Coding dsRNA Specific to Yellow-Head Virus (YHV) Genome Induces Protection of Penaeid Shrimp from Mortality and Reduces YHV Multiplication.  Gun Anantasomboon (ananta_gun@yahoo.com), Sangchan Saenapin, Craig L. Browdy, Boonsirm Withyachumnarnkul and Timothy W. Flegel (Anatomy Unit, Department of Medical Science, Faculty of Science, Rangsit University, Pathumthani 12000, Thailand).

United States

California—PCI Wants Partners for Trials with Oxygen Concentrators

Pacific Consolidated Industries (PCI), a manufacturer of air separation equipment, has been manufacturing oxygen systems for the military, disaster relief and medical markets for years.  Now, it has a new line of VSA (vacuum swing absorption) oxygen concentrators for the aquaculture industries.

In an email to Shrimp News, Brian Chung, Vice President of Business Development at PCI, said, “I am hoping you can help me identify a few intensive shrimp farms that currently use or could use oxygen injection as part of their operation that would be good potential launch partners for PCI.  We would look to offer the first one or two farms that work with us discounts as well as an extraordinary level of service and support.”

PCI recently introduced its products to the shrimp farming industry at the Ninth International Shrimp Culture Symposium and Trade Show in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico (June 4-6, 2008).  Soeren Schmitz, General Manager for Commercial Oxygen Systems, and Tarik Naheiri, Vice President of Engineering and Technology, gave a presentation on PCI’s technology.  For a copy of that presentation, contact: Brian Chung, Vice President of Business Development, Pacific Consolidated Industries, 12201 Magnolia Avenue, Riverside, CA 92503 USA (phone 951-479-0868, fax 951-479-0861, email bchung@pci-intl.com, webpage http://www.pacificconsolidatedindustries.com).

Sources: 1. Email from Pacific Consolidated Industries to Shrimp News International.  Subject: Oxygen for Shrimp Farming.  May 29, 2008.  2. Email from Soeren Schmitz (sschmitz@PCI-INTL.COM).  Subject: PCI info for your June 13 posting.  June 12, 2008.

United States

Maryland—Marvesta Shrimp Farms

In the tiny town of Hurlock, three young entrepreneurs—Guy Furman, Scott Fritze and Andy Hanzlik (pictured below)—grow an unusual product, Maryland’s first homegrown shrimp.

Currently, Marvesta Shrimp Farms grows 30,000 pounds of shrimp a year and serves 20 restaurants in the surrounding area, which includes the cities of Baltimore and Washington, DC, and Maryland’s Eastern Shore.  An ambitious building plan will quadruple the operation, allowing it to grow 120,000 pounds of shrimp a year and serve another 50 restaurants by the end of this summer.  When the expansion is complete, the multimillion-dollar enterprise plans to sell shrimp to the public through its website.

Marvesta is one of only a handful of indoor shrimp farms in the United States.  Others are in Virginia, where Blue Ridge Aquaculture is still testing its operation, and in Michigan, where Seafood Systems sells its shrimp to the public from its own market.

Marvesta’s tanks are teeming with healthy, lively shrimp in warm, bubbling, brownish water kept at 80 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit and a salinity of 18-20 parts per 1,000.  Each tank holds 4,000 pounds of shrimp.

Marvesta delivers live shrimp to its restaurant customers, which pay from $8-$16 a pound, depending on size, plus shipping costs.

In February 2008, with shrimp production increasing, Marvesta hired its first employee, 60-year-old Jack Crockett (a descendant of frontiersman Davey Crockett of coonskin-hat fame) as production manager.  Crockett has been farming shrimp for more than 30 years, originally at outdoor farms in Nicaragua and Honduras and more recently at a new indoor shrimp farm in Texas.  Crockett says his job is “to get as much shrimp as possible out of the tanks at the lowest cost,” while maintaining the highest quality.  Of his new bosses, who are young enough to be his sons, Crockett says, “Not only do they have great insight, they are hard working and very smart.”

Source: Baltimore Magazine.net.  Down on the Farm.  Joan Jacobson.  June 2008.

United States

Missouri—Global Aquaculture Alliance

The Global Aquaculture Alliance, the leading global standards setter for aquaculture seafood, has completed plans for a new standards oversight committee that will both oversee the development of GAA’s Best Aquaculture Practices certification standards and assist in the implementation of the standards.

According to GAA Executive Director Wally Stevens, the formation of the new committee and the input from key stakeholders is a major milestone for the organization.  Stevens said, “The fact that we have received and included input from many stakeholders in this effort should address any questions about the transparency of our process in setting standards that are both rigorous and attainable as we strive to advance the sustainability of aquaculture on a global basis.”

GAA is currently seeking nominations to serve on the new committee.

Information: Jeanne McKnight, Media Contact, Global Aquaculture Alliance, 5661 Telegraph Road, Suite 3A, St. Louis, Missouri 63129 USA (phone 206-963-6478, fax 314-293-5525, email mcknight@mcknightpr.com, webpage http://www.gaalliance.org).

Source: Email to Shrimp News International with attached news release: Aquaculture Standards Setter Global Aquaculture Alliance Finalizes Standards Oversight Committee Structure, Role; Seeks Nominations.  May 28, 2008.

United States

Oregon—Howard Newman, Desert Lake Technologies

Howard Newman is president and owner of Desert Lake Technologies, which harvests, processes and markets Aphanizmenon flos-aquae algae and Daphnia from a freshwater lake in Oregon.  He also markets several shrimp hatchery feeds.

Howard has a long history in the brine shrimp industry.  He first owned Artemia, Inc., and later was vice president of San Francisco Bay Brands for six years.  When Bay Brands was purchased by INVE, a supplier of shrimp hatchery feeds, he went to work for INVE for the next ten years.

Shrimp News: Howard recently forwarded a change in his email address (below) and I asked him what he was up to.

Howard Newman: “I am mostly working in the larval diet arena with one product that would probably be highly beneficial in shrimp nurseries.  It’s a North Atlantic copepod that is about 1.5-3 millimeters long and frozen in one-kilo flat packs.  It has a nutritional profile superior to Artemia and equal to or better than that of Cyclopeeze.  It’s high in astaxanthin with a 2:1 EPA-DHA ratio and a nice compliment of steradonic acid to round out the fatty acid profile.”

“I’m also marketing frozen Artemia, Artemia cysts, frozen marine polychaete worms, Artemia flakes, copepod flakes, frozen Daphnia and Daphnia flakes.”

Information: Howard Newman, Desert Lake Technologies, Inc., P.O. Box 489, Klamath Falls, Oregon 97601 USA (phone 541-885-6947, fax 541-884-6951, email hwnewman@desertlake.com, webpage http://www.desertlake.com).

Source: Email from Howard Newman to Shrimp News International on June 1, 2008.

United States

Washington DC—The Solidarity Center

On May 28, 2008, at a Department of Labor hearing in Washington, DC, the Solidarity Center reiterated its accusations of ongoing worker abuses at Thai and Bangladeshi shrimp processing facilities.

Source: SeafoodSource.com.  Solidarity Center Defends Abuse Report at Hearing.  May 29, 2008.

United States

Washington DC—USDA Survey of Shrimp Hatcheries

The USA Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service, in collaboration with the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC), is initiating a stakeholder outreach and data collection on use of and access to broodstock and postlarvae used by USA-based shrimp producers.  This information will be collected to inform the development of USDA policy positions for international negotiations related to international access to and exchange of breeding materials of relevance to USA aquaculture.  Participation among shrimp farmers and shrimp researchers in both the public and private sectors is needed to ensure that issues and concerns to the stakeholder community are addressed in this process.

As part of this data collection, UIC will conduct a confidential web-based stakeholder survey in the fall of 2008 to gather information from the USA shrimp farming community.  The survey will request information about such issues as the geographic sources of broodstock and postlarvae (whether sourced domestically or internationally), the desired characteristics of new shrimp lines produced in breeding programs (such as food conversion efficiency and growth rates), and any quarantine or legal/intellectual property issues that shrimp farming stakeholders encounter when accessing and using broodstock or postlarvae.  All survey respondents’ identities will be kept confidential and only aggregated, industry-wide information will be transmitted to USDA.  If you are interested in learning more about this survey, and/or would like to be added to the mailing list to receive the survey when it is launched this fall, contact Jennifer Long (below).

Information: Jennifer “Vern” Long, PhD, Visiting Assistant Research Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois/Chicago, 845 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60607 USA (email vernlong@uic.edu).

Information: Details of this project can be found in the Federal Register (Volume 73, Number 63, Pages 17296-17297, April 1, 2008, and by requesting study documentation from the principal investigator, Jennifer Long, above).

Source: Email to Shrimp News International from Jennifer Long.  Subject: Shrimp genetic resources project summary for Shrimp News.  June 6, 2008.

United States

Washington DC—Greenpeace

Greenpeace will most likely release its much-anticipated survey of the seafood sourcing policies of USA retailers on June 17, 2008.  A similar survey of Europe’s top retailers and dramatic Greenpeace-inspired protests at the time of the release sparked an overhaul of seafood sourcing policies at Europe’s largest grocery outlets.  The USA release will test Greenpeace’s ability to mount a successful campaign against a much larger, more fragmented retail sector in the United States.  Europe’s retailers folded quickly under the hot lights of media attention, but Greenpeace had a smaller number of retail players to deal with in Europe.

This will test how much protection sustainable seafood programs like the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and the Aquaculture Certification Council (ACC) actually provide a retailer.

The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) has fiercely criticized the survey, calling it intimidation and urging retailers to tread carefully in dealing with Greenpeace.

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).

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).  Greenpeace sets date for release of U.S. retail survey.  John Fiorillo.  June 6, 2008.

Vietnam

Big Demand for White-Legged Shrimp in Russia

Seafood export revenues to Russia in the first quarter of 2008 were estimated at $60 million, an increase of 30 percent over the first quarter of 2007, according to the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors.  Thirty-eight seafood firms have so far received licenses to export seafood to Russia.  There has been a recent boom in demand for white-legged (Penaeus vannamei) shrimp in Russia, analysts said, adding that exporters should focus on it.

Source: Vietnam News Agency.  Russians acquire taste for Mekong seafood.  May 30, 2008.

Classified Advertisements
How To Advertise