- formulate national
policies recognizing the importance of shrimp farming as a
contributor
to national development and assisting its sustainable and responsible
development;
- develop improved legal frameworks, monitoring
systems and enforcement
capabilities
to control and register importation and culture of alien shrimp
species;
- recognize in
legislation the differences between “soft laws”, codes and
guidelines,
and
regional or international agreements and WTO “hard laws”;
- encourage or enforce
farm registration and licensing;
- enforce coastal area
management regulations of relevance to shrimp farming;
- critical analysis of approval process for
shrimp farms farming alien species;
- legislate penalties
for beaches of legislation or quarantine and illegal activities such
as
smuggling, examine the issue of liability;
- increase interaction
between planners, policy makers, industry and other
stakeholders
to discuss strategies (and their application) for practical approaches
to environmentally friendly and sustainable farming of alien shrimp species;
- implement, and if
necessary, design, environmental Impact Assessments (EIA)
that
take account of disease transmission issues with imported species;
- formulate plans for
comprehensive shrimp health management strategies using
existing
and novel approaches to correct problems in the environment, animal and
pathogen;
and
- develop contingency
plans and provide financial, technical and educational
assistance for farmers
suffering from disease outbreaks.
- Member States must
advise OIE of any outbreaks of listed pathogens;
- begin to regionally harmonize and
implement Import Risk Analysis (IRA) to help
prevent disease transmission. Training
officials in the IRA process should be given
priority;
- link national
diagnostics and disease control systems with other countries'
networks
to strengthen regional cooperation;
- establish a regional
disease information network/Web site and a timely disease
reporting
system;
- organize regional
annual meetings and workshops on shrimp health management
for
dissemination of information;
- establish data base
of facilities offering certified disease-free SPF and resistant SPR
stocks;
- give priority to
collaboration between Latin American and Asian regions for
cross-fertilization
of ideas; and
- recognize and
identify the roles and inputs of NGOs.
- develop and/or apply
“best practices” for management of the shrimp industry
based on continuous refinements of the FAO CCRF and similar guidelines on
aquaculture
development. This should include incorporation of quality assurance
programmes
(HACCP) into all aspects of the shrimp culture system;
- develop government
infrastructure and industry liaison, so that codes of practice
can be developed and followed,
certifications or accreditations made, expertise in
disease control identified and
communication and awareness raised for the benefit
of both parties;
- there is a slow trend
towards eco-labelling and certification of shrimp in
international shrimp markets.
The environmental advantages of P. vannamei, and
particularly its requirement for lower
protein use, provide some advantages to this
species for an environmental certification or labelling scheme;
- most international
Codes of Conduct, as well as new trace-ability requirements
from the
United States of America and EU will require that shrimp are produced
from legal farm operations,
therefore, the legal status of P. vannamei farming in a
country should be carefully considered, and
clarified if necessary; and
- some organic farm
certification schemes allow only culture of native species, so
the
farming of P. vannamei in an Asian country might prevent inclusion in
such
schemes.
- establish national
reference pathology labs to inter-calibrate with, and assure the
quality
of, private disease labs, and collaborate with the existing OIE reference labs;
- initiate Quality
assurance programmes, including standardization of techniques
and
training in disease diagnosis labs to ensure their utility in the control of
disease
transmission;
- require that all
facilities exporting shrimp have a minimum 2 year disease free
status,
are certified as such and can submit independent, qualified certification of
their status;
- submit properly
collected samples of imported shrimp to certified disease
diagnosis
laboratories for assurance of disease-free status, whist maintaining
shrimp
in biosecure quarantine facilities before release into the environment; and
- conduct co-habitation
trials of all imports with indigenous shrimp species to
prevent
the entry of unknown pathogens that pose high risks to local species.
- fund programmes to
investigate methods of combating disease threats (with
public/private
sector cooperation);
- investigate
advantages and disadvantages of alien shrimp for the culture industry
of each
country to determine its suitability for import;
- establish closed
cycle breeding programmes to produce high quality SPF and SPR
seed
used for stocking ponds for both alien and indigenous species;
- identify all potential
viral pathogens and develop specific and sensitive tools for
their detection appropriate for both lab and farmer level;
- research case-specific
farming systems for each species so that it can be utilized
optimally appropriate to local conditions;
- establish programmes
to monitor aquatic environments in and around shrimp
farming
areas, including effects of culturing new species on wild populations;
- conduct routine
analysis on the effects of new viruses on imported and indigenous
hosts
through cohabitation studies so that any effects or changes of viral
pathogenicity
can be monitored, and measures for its control investigated;
- conduct routine monitoring of wild shrimp
populations for all pathogenic viruses,
including an assessment of which species
develop the disease and which act as
carriers, with attempts made to
discover the source of any contamination;
- assess the relative
risk factors involved with each potential vector of shrimp
pathogens
to assist development of more appropriate intervention strategies for
disease
control;
- evaluate viability of alternative shrimp
farming systems (i.e. utilizing low-salinity
and/or inland farming areas and high
density, low impact culture systems);
- investigate shrimp
production and health management capabilities and practices
to
determine suitable codes and guidelines for culture of alien species;
- investigate best
methods for dissemination of information pertaining to importation
and management of alien
shrimp species;
- develop epidemiological approaches to
disease management;
- evaluate water
treatment methods for their ability to reduce disease risk;
- develop simple,
low-cost methods of reducing exposure to disease carriers; and
- evaluate the
effectiveness of green water and shrimp/fish polyculture techniques
for reducing disease outbreaks.
- establish a network of
collaborating and cross-referencing disease diagnosis
laboratories
with state of the art equipment and trained manpower;
- consider
reinvestment of export profits to improve health management capabilities;
- develop biosecure
high-health maturation systems and hatcheries for alien and
indigenous
species with functional quarantine systems for holding imported
animals
while they are screened, and training facilities/extension for the local
farmers;
- develop a programme
for the culture and genetic selection of alien and indigenous
species
to aid development of improved broodstock with desirable culture
characteristics,
and training of farmers/extension agents in this technology;
- allocate the necessary
equipment, personnel, training and travel required for
disease
diagnosis, interpretation of test results, and assessment of shrimp health
management
practices at laboratory and farm level;
- where required,
provide overseas training or seminars from experts for government
employees,
trainers, extension officers and farmers on the techniques required to
produce alien species
sustainably;
- improve information
dissemination and increase farmer awareness of issues
involved
with the importation and culture of alien shrimp so that farmers have
the
facts and can clearly understand the potential risks and benefits involved.
Collaboration
between farmer's associations and the relevant government agencies
would
assist this process;
- establish databanks
on all shrimp farms, perhaps using GIS technology for
effective
regulation, assessment, monitoring and law enforcement; and
- promote training in
the epidemiology of major shrimp diseases to improve
awareness
and develop practical health management schemes at farm, national and
regional
levels.
- A
recent FAO publication entitled “Health Management and Biosecurity
Maintenance in White Shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) Hatcheries in
Latin America”
(FAO, 2003) provides information on how to
improve health and quality of P. vannamei postlarvae produced
in hatcheries in Latin America, 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.
- This document also provides valuable information on how
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) type interventions could be applied
during hatchery
production of P. vannamei postlarvae. The information provided in this document will contribute to the efforts by
the P. vannamei hatchery operators and mangers
in producing quality, disease free, healthy post larvae, thus improving overall production and sustainability of white
shrimp aquaculture.
- Major protocols provided in the FAO (2003) document are
listed in Annexes II and III.
