Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission

Improving Penaeus monodon hatchery practices. Manual based on experience in India.
FAO Fisheries Technical Paper. No. 446. Rome, FAO. 2007.101p.

The successful farming of tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) in India is mainly due to the existence of some 300 hatcheries whose capacity to produce 12 000 million postlarvae (PL) annually has provided an assured supply of seed. However, the sustainability of the sector is still hampered by many problems, foremost among these being a reliance on wild-caught broodstock whose supply is limited both in quantity and in seasonal availability and that are often infected with pathogens. The current low quality of hatchery produced PL due to infection with white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) and other pathogens entering the hatcheries via infected broodstock, contaminated intake water or other sources due to poor hatchery management practices, including inadequate biosecurity, is a major obstacle to achieving sustainable shrimp aquaculture in India and the Asia-Pacific region. Considering the major contribution of the tiger shrimp to global shrimp production and the economic losses resulting from disease outbreaks, it is essential that the shrimp-farming sector invest in good management practices for the production of healthy and quality seed.

This document reviews the current state of the Indian shrimp hatchery industry and provides detailed guidance and protocols for improving the productivity, health management, biosecurity and sustainability of the sector. Following a brief review of shrimp hatchery development in India, the major requirements for hatchery production are discussed under the headings: infrastructure, facility maintenance, inlet water quality and treatment, wastewater treatment, biosecurity, standard operating procedures (SOPS), the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) approach, chemical use during the hatchery production process and health assessment. Pre-spawning procedures covered include the use of wild, domesticated and specific pathogen free/ specific pathogen resistant (SPF/SPR) broodstock; broodstock landing centres and holding techniques; broodstock selection, transport, utilization, quarantine, health screening, maturation, nutrition and spawning; egg hatching; nauplius selection; egg/ nauplius disinfection and washing and holding, disease testing and transportation of nauplii. Post-spawning procedures covered include: larval-rearing unit preparation, larval rearing/health management, larval nutrition and feed management, important larval diseases, general assessment of larval condition, quality testing/selection of PL for stocking, PL harvest and transportation, nursery rearing, timing of PL stocking, use of multiple species in shrimp hatcheries, and documentation and record keeping. Information on the use of chemicals in shrimp hatcheries and examples of various forms for hatchery record keeping are included as Annexes.

Aquaculture is an important food-producing sector, and it provides much needed protein, employment, income and livelihoods support to many people in the world. Shrimp, in particular, is a high value commodity that is mainly produced in Asia and Latin America, especially for export purposes, and brings a wealth of revenue to many developing countries in those regions. Over the past decade, there have been considerable problems in shrimp aquaculture, mainly due to viral diseases. Latin America, in particular, where Penaeus vannamei is the main species produced, has been suffering from severe viral disease problems since the early 1990s. During the efforts to find lasting solutions to the disease problems affecting P. vannamei culture in Latin America, it was perceived that stocking with healthy postlarvae is a key factor for achieving better survival during production. However, to successfully produce healthy postlarvae requires a clear understanding of the basic principles of sound health management and hatchery biosecurity.

This document provides technical guidance on how to improve the health and quality of postlarvae produced in hatcheries through improved facility maintenance and husbandry, broodstock maturation, larval rearing, feeding, water quality management, biosecurity and health management, using interventions at different points of the hatchery production process. The document also provides valuable information on how Standardized Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) type interventions can be applied during hatchery production of P. vannamei postlarvae. This document is expected to facilitate the efforts of hatchery operators and managers to produce quality, disease-free, healthy P. vannamei postlarvae, thus improving overall production and the sustainability of white shrimp aquaculture.

This manual provides information on the farming of Macrobrachium rosenbergii. Many of the techniques described are also applicable to other species of freshwater prawns that are being cultured. The manual is not a scientific text but is intended to be a practical guide to in-hatchery and on-farm management. The target audience is therefore principally farmers and extension workers. However, it is also hoped that, like the previous manual on this topic, it will be useful for lecturers and students alike in universities and other institutes that provide training in aquaculture.

Both Penaeus vannamei[6] and P. stylirostris originate on the Western Pacific coast of Latin America from Peru in the south to Mexico in the north.

They were introduced from the early 1970s to the Pacific Islands, where research was conducted into breeding and their potential for aquaculture. During the late 1970s and early 1980s they were introduced to Hawaii and the Eastern Atlantic coast of the Americas from South Carolina and Texas in the North to Central America and as far south as Brazil.

The culture industry for P. stylirostris in Latin America is largely confined to Mexico, but P. vannamei has become the primary cultured species in the Americas from the USA to Brazil over the past 20-25 years. Total production of this species in the American region probably amounted to some 213 800 metric tonnes, worth US$ 1.1 billion[7] in 2002.

P. vannamei was introduced into Asia experimentally from 1978-79, but commercially only since 1996 into Mainland China and Taiwan Province of China, followed by most of the other coastal Asian countries in 2000-01. Experimental introductions of specific pathogen free (SPF) "supershrimp" P. stylirostris have been made into various Asian countries since 2000, but the only country to develop an industry to date has been Brunei.

Beginning in 1996, P. vannamei was introduced into Asia on a commercial scale. This started in Mainland China and Taiwan Province of China and subsequently spread to the Philippines, Indonesia, Viet Nam, Thailand, Malaysia and India. These introductions, their advantages and disadvantages and potential problems are the focus of this report.

China now has a large and flourishing industry for P. vannamei, with Mainland China producing more than 270 000 metric tonnes in 2002 and an estimated 300 000 metric tonnes (71 percent of the country's total shrimp production) in 2003, which is higher than the current production of the whole of the Americas.

Other Asian countries with developing industries for this species include Thailand (120 000 metric tonnes estimated production for 2003), Viet Nam and Indonesia (30 000 metric tonnes estimated for 2003 each), with Taiwan Province of China, the Philippines, Malaysia and India together producing several thousand tonnes.

Total production of P. vannamei in Asia was approximately 316 000 metric tonnes in 2002, and it has been estimated that this has increased to nearly 500 000 metric tonnes in 2003, which is worth approximately US$ 4 billion in terms of export income. However, not all the product is exported and a large local demand exists in some Asian countries.

The main reason behind the importation of P. vannamei to Asia has been the perceived poor performance, slow growth rate and disease susceptibility of the major indigenous cultured shrimp species, P. chinensis in China and P. monodon virtually everywhere else. Shrimp production in Asia has been characterized by serious viral pathogens causing significant losses to the culture industries of most Asian countries over the past decade and slowing down of growth in production. It was not until the late 1990s, spurred by the production of the imported P. vannamei, that Asian (and therefore world) production levels have begun to rapidly increase again. By comparison, P. vannamei production has greatly reduced in Latin America also as a result of disease problems, however, there has so far been little sign of recovery.

In Asia, first Yellow Head Virus (YHV) from 1992 and later White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) from 1994 caused continuing direct losses of approximately US$ 1 billion per year to the native cultured shrimp industry. In Latin America, first Taura Syndrome Virus (TSV) from 1993 and later, particularly, WSSV from 1999 caused direct losses of approximately US$ 0.5 billion per year after WSSV. Ancillary losses involving supporting sectors of the industry, jobs, and market and bank confidence put the final loss much higher.

It is widely believed that these three most economically significant viral pathogens (and a host of other pathogens) have been introduced to the Asian and Latin American countries suffering these losses through the careless introduction of live shrimp stocks. Most Asian countries have legislated against the introduction of P. vannamei due to fears over the possibility of introducing new pathogenic viruses and other diseases from Latin America to Asia. Many governments have allowed importation of supposedly disease free stocks that are available for this species from the USA.

The encouraging trial results, the industry-perceived benefits, including superior disease resistance, growth rate and other advantages, allied with problems in controlling the imports from other countries, have led to the widespread introduction of this species to Asia, primarily by commercial farmers. Unfortunately, importation of cheaper, non-disease free stock has resulted in the introduction of serious viral pathogens (particularly TSV) into a number of Asian countries, including Mainland China, Taiwan Province of China, Thailand and Indonesia, and maybe more.

Although TSV is not reported to have affected indigenous cultured or wild shrimp populations, insufficient time and research have been conducted on this issue and there is a need for caution. TSV is a highly mutable virus, capable of mutating into more virulent strains, which are able to infect other species. In addition, other viruses probably imported with P. vannamei, for example a new LOVV-like virus, have been implicated in actually causing the slow growth problems currently being encountered with the culture of the indigenous P. monodon. There remain many unanswered questions regarding the possible effects of introduced species and associated pathogens on other cultured and wild shrimp populations in Asia.

For such reasons ...