The Future of Extreme Biodiversity in Shrimp Farming

Marine shrimp farming is one of the century-old practices prevalent in many Asian countries. The commodity was generally considered a secondary crop in traditional fish farming practices until a decade ago. Generally, shrimp trapped in coastal paddy fields, salt beds or brackish water fishponds are allowed to grow to marketable size and harvested as a secondary crop. However, the recent years have witnessed higher income being derived from the harvest of shrimp than the principal crop. Time and again, shrimp farmers have been faced with a mystery disease affecting their yield. From 2012 EMS in Thailand to 2010 whitespot in Ecuador, shrimp world is taken aback with some epidemic or the other. Let us explore some of the ways farmers attempt to mitigate the disease risk at present and what the future of it looks like:

According to industry experts such as Varun Thapar of KCT Group, the disease is the number one source of concern to farmers, not only because it can drive profits down to a significant level but also because it can throw a farm and a region into a downward spiral of loss. As a result, the farmers desperately attempt to understand the problem and the ways to fix it. 

Disease is introduced to a pond by an outside source i.e. the birds, the water, or the crabs, etc. carrying them into the pond. The hosts infect the water which makes the animals become susceptible to these pathogens, resulting in the diseased crops. 

With so many carriers of the disease, farmers practice varying degrees of biosecurity. The first includes inspecting the PLs to ensure they do not carry any pathogen with them. The next is to make sure that the water that reaches the pond is free from pathogens and is of good quality. Reputed companies such as The Waterbase Limited hold water in reservoirs and treat it with safe probiotics and other disease mitigation techniques to remove harmful pollutants as well as mitigate the impact of the disease. 

Preventing human-borne and airborne pathogens from accessing the ponds are the final steps involved in the process. While some farmers put up carb and bird nets for the purpose, others build greenhouses. Some even go a step further and apply hatchery-level biosecurity such as having all their staff members wear caps, smocks, and sanitize their boots as they enter. 

The focus now has shifted to controlling the variables that impact the health of animals. Although it will take some time for such practices to trickle down to all the farms, it will benefit in the long run. 

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