September 27, 2022

Sri Lanka's Taprobane Seafoods opens new aquaculture service centre

Sri Lanka's biggest and most integrated seafood firm, Taprobane Seafoods, opened its second Taprobane Aquaculture Service centre in Puttalam district to boost access for shrimp farmers, push sustainable farming practices and lower chemical use, Fish Information & Services reported.

A controlled intensification strategy will be used by the new Taprobane Aqua Services centre to create a sustainable and environmentally friendly shrimp industry. Through Taprobane's collaboration with UTE (Caterpillar), shrimp farmers can also access equipment for aquaculture on lease or purchase.

By opening yet another centre, the company connects with farmers directly, cutting out middlemen and paying direct to farmers, ensuring fair prices; working with the government on policies, regulations, and infrastructure (such as electrification, canal dredging, and roads); assisting older generation farmers to adopt new technology more quickly; altering mindsets and onboarding farmers onto new production and platforms; working with the government to change the sentiment that shrimp farming is bad.

Vijay Kallepalli, the head of technical services at Taprobane, conducted a workshop and shared with the farmers the best practises to make sure they are profitable and sustainable. Vijay has been working in the aquaculture sector for 30 years, has worked abroad, and is widely recognised as an authority on sustainable shrimp farming.

When harvesting shrimp, farmers frequently discharge water with a high nitrogen content into streams or lagoons, which can increase algae growth, harm the environment, and alter the water's biodiversity. By introducing the Recirculation Water System for resource water purification, Taprobane Seafoods is instructing and enticing farmers to have Effluent Treatment Ponds to reduce nutrient mobilisation. As a result, the crop can use the same water.

By instructing farmers on how to use 10 gauge blowers rather than parallel wheel aerators, the centre will also focus on reducing electricity consumption. Taprobane Aquaculture Services has completely eliminated paper use by going online and cloud-based, further advancing their sustainability agenda. With the goal of eliminating plastic use, the company is promoting the use of cloth bags and reducing (and eventually eliminating) the use of plastic cups and plates. Food waste, paper, plastic, and other types of trash are all recycled.

The largest and most vertically integrated seafood company in Sri Lanka is Taprobane Seafoods. The company, which was founded in 2010, has 17 processing facilities, 1,000 acres of shrimp farms, hatcheries, retail locations, a feed & healthcare company, and over 2,000 direct employees nationwide.

-      Fish Information & Services