October 11, 2010

Brunei bans shrimp imports to prevent diseases

The Brunei Fisheries Department said that the ban on the import of all live shrimps and uncooked/fresh Pacific White Prawns was to prevent the risk of diseases entering the country.

Director of Fisheries Department, Hjh Hasnah bte Ibrahim, said the supplier who had received the prawns from another supplier from Malaysia, had brought some 700 kilogrammes of the prawns and was about to sell them at the Gadong Fish Market when the prawns were confiscated.

Hasnah said the Bruneian government, through the Fisheries Department and private entrepreneurs, had invested millions to establish a shrimp aquaculture industry and to develop Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) populations of Litopenoeus stylirostris (Rostris shrimp) to support the domestic aquaculture industry.

There are currently 230 hectares of shrimp farms in operation in the country. These activities are promoted as part of the Fisheries Department's strategy for the fisheries sector to contribute to the economic diversification' of the country. In 2006, these 'efforts were re-doubled when the SPF programme was expanded to include Penaeus monodon (Tiger Prawns).

Brunei Darussalam so far has been experiencing disease-free status whereby farmed shrimps in Brunei are free of the viral pathogens such as White Spot Syndrome virus (WSSV), infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis virus (IHHNV), Monodon Baculovirus (MBV), Taura Syndrome virus (TSV), Yellow Head virus (YHV), Gill-associated virus (GAV), infectious Myonecrosis virus (IMNV), Baculovirus Penaei (BP), Hepatopancreactic parvo-like virus (HPV) and Mourilyan virus (MoV).

Against this background, the Fisheries Department has upgraded its capacity to conduct post-quarantine testing of high-risk disease agents imported into Brunei Darussalam, in particular aquacultural shrimp.

The department has set up the Aquatic Animal Health Centre (AAHC), which has a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) lab that has the capability to anaylse and detect viral diseases.
 

Uncontrolled importation of animal products poses a major threat of disease introduction into Brunei and mindful of this, the department conducted an Import Risk Analysis (IRA) firstly to identify potential sources of biosecurity risk associated with imports of shrimp and other crustacean commodities, and to determine which diseases could be introduced.

The analysis indicated that one of the main risks of disease entry into Brunei would be via importation of fresh shrimps that are mainly sold through the wet markets.

Inspections of wet markets found direct pathways for imported crustaceans and waste products from imported crustaceans (shrimp heads, shells and their transport water) to enter the marine environment via wastewater drains which flowed straight into local rivers and coastal waters.

To date, two aquatic diseases have been detected in imported shrimp products: WSSV and IHHNV. While WSSV is considered the most devastating of the shrimp viruses, IHHNV is one of the OIE-listed viral diseases which are non-infectious to humans but have a very significant impact on the aquaculture industry.

These viruses have been responsible for billions of dollars in losses globally. Other diseases such as TSV and IMNV are known to exist in the Southeast Asian region, but have never been detected in Brunei. Introduction of these diseases could cause an irreversible setback to the industry.

Due to reasons cited above, the Fisheries Department has been imposing the ban on the importation of all live shrimps and uncooked/fresh Litopenaeous vannamei, also known as Pacific White Shrimp from overseas since September 2009.

The Fisheries Department said that the confiscated goods should not be taken by members of the public but handed over to the Fisheries Department. To date, five such- confiscations have been conducted and the penalty for the first offence is BND500 (US$383.24) and BND1,000 (US$766.39) for a subsequent offence.