A new plague swimm
ing through the shrimp farms of China and South-East Asia is making ripples in the United States and Europe, where prawn prices have jumped to record highs in recent months.
Consumers had better get used to paying more for their tempura and wanton soup.
"The shortage is going to last at least a couple of years, maybe longer," predicted Matthew Briggs, an aquaculture consultant for Ridley Aquafeed with more than a decade of experience in Southeast Asia's shrimp industry.
Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS), the latest epidemic to hit Asia's booming shrimp industry, first raised its head on Chinese farms in 2009, and gradually spread to Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.
The four countries accounted for about 70% of the world's shrimp exports in 2011, according to figures from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Thailand, the world's leading shrimp exporter, started to get hit by EMS in late 2012.
"My farm was affected in August last year, when we lost about 80% of our stock," said Prayoon Hongrat, president of Sureerath Farm in Chantaburi province, in eastern Thailand.
"We need to bring our water supply from outside and we think that is what spread the disease in our nursery," said Prayoon, whose farm specialises in organic shrimp raised in environmentally friendly conditions.
Scientists still don't know much about EMS. Over the past two or three decades, commercial shrimp farms have been hit by 20 viral and bacterial epidemics and new syndromes.
"This is different," said Simon Funga-Smith, Senior Fisheries Officer at the Bangkok FAO headquarters. "Most of the past diseases have been caused by a virus infecting the animal, but EMS is caused by a virus that is infecting a bacteria in the shrimp, which is then creating a toxin which is poisoning the animal."
"At the moment we've only literally just been able to sort of replicate the disease in the laboratory, which is the first step you need to take," he said.
Shrimp farms are highly prone to the rapid spread of new viruses because they are mono-cultures.
Since 2001, Asian farms have shifted from raising P monodon (tiger prawns), indigenous to Asia, to P vannamei, a Latin American prawn, chiefly because it has been less susceptible to diseases, until EMS hit.
The switch has accounted for Asian dominance in shrimp exports for the past decade.
It has also led to overstocking of ponds and, inevitably, degraded pond environments and weaker shrimp stock.
"This disease came from God, because we have been too greedy," said Poj Aramwattananont, president of the Thai Frozen Foods Association.
Thailand shrimp production amounted to 485,000 tonnes last year, of which 80% was exported. The association expects only 270,000 tonnes in 2013, partly because of EMS but also because farmers are too afraid of EMS to restock their ponds, Poj said.
"In the future, each country, including Thailand, needs to figure out what is the right amount we should farm to reach a sustainable production," he said.
China's total output of shrimps was more than 1.5 million tonnes annually before EMS, of which about 200,000 tonnes was exported, said Cui He, vice-president of the China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance.
Since the EMS epidemic, China has been importing shrimp from India and Ecuador just to satisfy the huge domestic demand.
"We used to be an exporting country, but now we are an importing country," Cui said.
Vietnam has also been importing shrimp to keep its processing industry going.
Despite a decline in volume, Vietnam earned nearly 1.4 billion from shrimp exports in the first seven months of this year, up 14.7% year-on-year, thanks to increased prices on the international market, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers said.
But some of that was sourced from imported shrimp, which cost the country 170 million US dollars last year, it confirmed.
Malaysia, which produces about 80,000 tonnes of shrimp a year, has not been spared the EMS plague.
"Our main concern is how to overcome diseases, particularly Early Mortality Syndrome," said Syed Omar Jaafar, president of the Malaysian Shrimp Association.
Shifting to shrimp imports from EMS-free countries may not prove a long-term solution for the world market, experts warn.
To date, the disease has yet to be reported in Bangladesh, Ecuador, India and Indonesia.
In May, it popped up in Mexico.
"It's almost inevitably going to get to these other countries," Briggs said. "And if it does get in the other countries, which is pretty likely that it will, then there is going to be a really, really severe shortfall."
ing through the shrimp farms of China and South-East Asia is making ripples in the United States and Europe, where prawn prices have jumped to record highs in recent months.Consumers had better get used to paying more for their tempura and wanton soup.
"The shortage is going to last at least a couple of years, maybe longer," predicted Matthew Briggs, an aquaculture consultant for Ridley Aquafeed with more than a decade of experience in Southeast Asia's shrimp industry.
Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS), the latest epidemic to hit Asia's booming shrimp industry, first raised its head on Chinese farms in 2009, and gradually spread to Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.
The four countries accounted for about 70% of the world's shrimp exports in 2011, according to figures from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Thailand, the world's leading shrimp exporter, started to get hit by EMS in late 2012.
"My farm was affected in August last year, when we lost about 80% of our stock," said Prayoon Hongrat, president of Sureerath Farm in Chantaburi province, in eastern Thailand.
"We need to bring our water supply from outside and we think that is what spread the disease in our nursery," said Prayoon, whose farm specialises in organic shrimp raised in environmentally friendly conditions.
Scientists still don't know much about EMS. Over the past two or three decades, commercial shrimp farms have been hit by 20 viral and bacterial epidemics and new syndromes.
"This is different," said Simon Funga-Smith, Senior Fisheries Officer at the Bangkok FAO headquarters. "Most of the past diseases have been caused by a virus infecting the animal, but EMS is caused by a virus that is infecting a bacteria in the shrimp, which is then creating a toxin which is poisoning the animal."
"At the moment we've only literally just been able to sort of replicate the disease in the laboratory, which is the first step you need to take," he said.
Shrimp farms are highly prone to the rapid spread of new viruses because they are mono-cultures.
Since 2001, Asian farms have shifted from raising P monodon (tiger prawns), indigenous to Asia, to P vannamei, a Latin American prawn, chiefly because it has been less susceptible to diseases, until EMS hit.
The switch has accounted for Asian dominance in shrimp exports for the past decade.
It has also led to overstocking of ponds and, inevitably, degraded pond environments and weaker shrimp stock.
"This disease came from God, because we have been too greedy," said Poj Aramwattananont, president of the Thai Frozen Foods Association.
Thailand shrimp production amounted to 485,000 tonnes last year, of which 80% was exported. The association expects only 270,000 tonnes in 2013, partly because of EMS but also because farmers are too afraid of EMS to restock their ponds, Poj said.
"In the future, each country, including Thailand, needs to figure out what is the right amount we should farm to reach a sustainable production," he said.
China's total output of shrimps was more than 1.5 million tonnes annually before EMS, of which about 200,000 tonnes was exported, said Cui He, vice-president of the China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance.
Since the EMS epidemic, China has been importing shrimp from India and Ecuador just to satisfy the huge domestic demand.
"We used to be an exporting country, but now we are an importing country," Cui said.
Vietnam has also been importing shrimp to keep its processing industry going.
Despite a decline in volume, Vietnam earned nearly 1.4 billion from shrimp exports in the first seven months of this year, up 14.7% year-on-year, thanks to increased prices on the international market, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers said.
But some of that was sourced from imported shrimp, which cost the country 170 million US dollars last year, it confirmed.
Malaysia, which produces about 80,000 tonnes of shrimp a year, has not been spared the EMS plague.
"Our main concern is how to overcome diseases, particularly Early Mortality Syndrome," said Syed Omar Jaafar, president of the Malaysian Shrimp Association.
Shifting to shrimp imports from EMS-free countries may not prove a long-term solution for the world market, experts warn.
To date, the disease has yet to be reported in Bangladesh, Ecuador, India and Indonesia.
In May, it popped up in Mexico.
"It's almost inevitably going to get to these other countries," Briggs said. "And if it does get in the other countries, which is pretty likely that it will, then there is going to be a really, really severe shortfall."
