ECUADOR: VASEP, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, report that CP's Robins McIntosh said Ecuador's current growth shows the country can produce 2.5 MT of shrimp by 2027, close to current levels of shrimp imports from the main markets.

After surpassing the farming level of 1 MT of vannamei shrimp production in 2021, based on the growth trajectory, Ecuador's production is expected to increase by 1.5 million in the next 6 years.

McIntosh said demand in the world's major shrimp import markets is currently 2.85 MT, led by the United States and China with 1 million and 900,000 MT, respectively. As previously reported, Ecuador exceeded 500,000 tons of exports in the first half of 2022 and India "needs to take precautions". McIntosh forecasts Indian production to drop by 100,000 MT in 2022 from 900,000 MT last year as Ecuador continues to grow strongly.

Ecuador has around 220,000 hectares of farms. McIntosh estimates 15-20% intensive farming, to produce 18-22 MT per hectare per year. So, if the 220,000 hectares are produced at 20 MT /year, the production will be 4.4 million tons.

Each year, many ponds will be converted, so each year these ponds have a continuous increase in production. They don't have to build new ponds, just convert them by adding aerators, automatic feeders, closing some inefficient ponds, and then feeding good quality.

 In addition, Ecuador is promoting a genetics program to further improve the quality of shrimp.

Source: Vasep

VIET NAM: Shrimp farming model is directed towards ecological roles of natural products with no drugs and chemicals used, costs reduction, records the highest profit of up to 80 million VND/hectar/year.

Ca Mau province has about 80 large and small estuaries, forming large tidal flats; this also creates convenience in providing water for coastal areas, especially the surrounding mangrove areas. These are ideal conditions for the development of shrimp farming - forests.

Ca Mau is also the province with the largest mangrove forest area in the country of more than 80,000 hectares. Currently, there are more than 27,500 hectares of shrimp farming under the forest canopy, of which more than 19,000 hectares are certified according to international standards (Naturland, EU Organic, Canada Organic, Selva Shrimp, ASC, BAP, ...).

This shrimp product is favoured and highly evaluated. In addition to the main product - black tiger shrimp, the households also have additional income from crabs, fish, blood cockles, etc.

According to the Agriculture industry’s assessment, the model of shrimp-forest combination is a model of natural ecological farming without the use of drugs and chemicals, reducing costs and actively contributing to forest protection and development.

Mr. Pham Thanh Trung - a member of Dong Phat Dat ecological shrimp farming cooperative, said that with each 6 hectares of shrimp farming under the forest canopy, his family records annual revenue from 50-70 million VND/ha. In addition, there are additional sources of income from crabs and fish.

"The special feature of shrimp farming under the forest canopy is that it requires little care and does not use chemical fertilizers, so there are almost no diseases on shrimp" said Mr. Trung.

Forest products certified according to international standards will be purchased by businesses at a price of about 5-10% higher than traditional products.

For certified shrimp and forest areas, participating businesses will support farmers to pay for high quality seed and forest environmental services from 250,000-500,000 hectares/year.

In Ngoc Hien district, the shrimp - ecological forest project of Minh Phu Shrimp-Forest Chain Social Joint Stock Company is a bright spot. The project is implemented in 3 communes Vien An Dong, Vien An and Dat Mui on an area of ​​​​nearly 10,000 hectares with more than 2,000 households.

As a household participating in the ecological shrimp project under the forest canopy for more than 2 years, Mr. Ngo Thanh Hien, from Vien An commune, excitedly said: "My family has more than 4 hectares of shrimp farming land. Thanks to the application of this model of shrimp farming, the price of shrimp is always higher than the market price." Currently, the family's income from more than 4 hectares of land is about 120-130 million VND/year, so life is relatively stable.

In order to be certified for organic shrimp farming, farmers must adhere to the guidelines recommended by the professional industry on management and protection of mangroves; protection of wild animals in the Red List; input management, breeding stock, waste management,...

Farmers must record all activities related to shrimp farming (improvement, elimination of trashfish, stocking, harvesting, ...) and other activities (raising livestock, poultry, cultivation, etc.) into the diary. All documents and records must be kept in accordance with regulations for a period of 5 years (contract, farm diary, purchase invoice, etc.).

Regarding the development of the shrimp-forest combination model, Mr. Phan Hoang Vu - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ca Mau province informed that the locality will enhance technology transfer and application, and promote the replication of the farming model effectively; encourage the application of new and environmentally friendly farming techniques. The agricultural sector also reorganized production in the direction of forming large-scale, concentrated farming areas associated with preservation, processing and consumption in chains.

In 2021, the total shrimp farming area of ​​Ca Mau province reached 279,648 hectares. In which, intensive and super-intensive shrimp farming area accounted for 7,927 hectares (the super-intensive shrimp farming area in particular accounted for 3,683 ha); improved extensive shrimp farming of 163,170 hectares; shrimp - rice of about 37,149 hectares; shrimp - forest over 80,0000 hectares; Integrated extensive farming (crabs, fish, cockles…) is about 45,825 hectares. Farmed shrimp output was 205,290 tons, reaching 95.5% of the plan, up 2.5% over the same period last year.

Source: Vasep

UK: The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has published a position statement ahead of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) annual meeting, which takes place 1-5 August 2022.

Its statement leads with the request for IATTC to ensure all commission members are fully implementing the tuna conservation measure for bigeye and yellowfin tuna stocks. It also calls for improved fish aggregating device (FAD) design and management.

“The IATTC demonstrated their commitment to maintaining healthy tuna catches — with bigeye of greatest concern — through the new tuna conservation measures it adopted in 2021,” ISSF President Susan Jackson said.

“We are gratified that the current stock indicators show that bigeye and yellowfin fishing morality has not increased beyond sustainable levels set by the measure and that the interim assessment of skipjack is positive. Now it is essential that all parties fully implement these measures and cooperate to enhance port sampling that will help maintain skipjack, bigeye, and yellowfin stocks at healthy levels into the future.”

ISSF is urging the IATTC to also address FAD management gaps, with Jackson giving the example that IATTC still allows netting in FAD construction, has no agreed definition of biodegradable FADs, and does not have an effective FAD marking scheme or FAD recovery mechanisms.

“This year especially, the IATTC must, at a minimum, prohibit the use of netting in FADs and act to transition fleets to the increased use of biodegradable FAD materials. Such changes will reduce the impact of FAD fisheries on the marine ecosystem in the Eastern Pacific Ocean,” she said.

ISSF is a global coalition of seafood companies, fisheries experts, scientific and environmental organisations and the vessel community. It promotes science-based initiatives for long-term tuna conservation, FAD management, bycatch mitigation, marine ecosystem health, capacity management and illegal fishing prevention.

Source: www.worldfishing.net