October 9, 2014

Farmed shrimp production around the world could double in the next decade from the current 4 million tonnes a year to 8 million tonnes a year.

The prediction was made by of Dr. George Chamberlain, president of the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) in his keynote address on October 7 at the organization's GOAL (Global Outlook on Aquaculture Leadership)2014 conference in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. 

More than 300 seafood professionals from around the world are taking part in the four-day (October 7 to 10) aquaculture conference being held at the Sheraton Saigon Hotel and Towers in the Vietnamese capital.

Dr. Chamberlain anchored his optimistic prediction on the "layers of sophisticated disease controls (now being) employed by the industry."

He tempered his optimism, however, with a sobering report on the challenges the industry faces in controlling diseases that can rapidly spread across large production areas.

"The journey to control disease will never end," he said. But improved surveillance, genetic resistance, breeding techniques, biosecurity measures and innovative feed additives to combat diseases like Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS) are starting to bear positive results, he added.

World production of all farmed seafood declined by 4% overall last year, according to him, due to widespread EMS infestation in Asia.

While the EMS "epidemic" has been identified, there is no "silver bullet" solution to it, he added.   Employing improved biosecurity measures, however, was a recurring theme from many of the presenters and with the fragmented nature of the aquaculture industry worldwide, it will likely continue to be.

New diseases are continually cropping up, Chamberlain said, including a microsporidian host parasite that affects the shrimp's pancreas and another called covert nodavirus in China.

In an informal poll of conference attendees, 43% said disease control was the most important challenge impacting the growth of farmed shrimp worldwide.

Chamberlain said it was the fifth straight year that GOAL attendees identified disease management as the No. 1 challenge.

In one of the panel discussions during the event, Tim Flegel, advisor to Thailand's National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology,said the industry needs"to revolutionize (its) biosecurity systems to overcome these problems."

Zone management is a control method that is gaining ground, said Peter Marshall, founding director of RS Standards and chair of GAA's Zone Management Technical Committee.   Collaborative efforts are at the core of effective zone management.   "When 'I' is replaced with 'we,' illness becomes wellness," said Marshall.

During the disease-control panel discussion, Loc Tran of the Minh PhuAquamekongShrimpVet Lab at Nong Lam University in Vietnam, was cited for identifying EMS and his current work on tilapia production.