Bangladeshi fish exporters, already hit by the global economic crisis, said yesterday they had temporarily stopped shipping fresh water shrimps after a harmful drug was found in some shipments. The voluntary six-month suspension was imposed after European Union nations returned 50 container loads over the past eight months because tests showed traces of the banned antibiotic nitrofuran, a top exporter said.

"It's a blow to our industry but we had to take the drastic measure and find out how nitrofuran is entering the shrimps, their farms and hatcheries," said Kazi Shahnewaz, who heads the Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association.

A proposal from southern shrimpers to pledge 10,000 tonnes of Vannamai shrimp has been turned down by the government on fears of a financial loss.

Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai, who chaired a working panel on farmers assistance, said the government would rather consider other forms of assistance such as soft loans for contract farming and subsidies for production costs.

The government already holds a shrimp stockpile of about 2,508 tonnes and an additional purchase would trigger an immediate loss of about 400 million baht, said Mrs Porntiva.

Under its price-pledging scheme, the government bought 10,000 tonnes of shrimp last year at 105-160 baht per kilogramme. Of these, only 7,492 tonnes have been sold and the government anticipates a loss of 494 million baht if it fails to clear its remaining stocks.

Shrimp farmers in eight southern provinces asked the government to buy their products -- at 160 baht per kilogramme of 40 shrimp, 140 baht per kg of 50 shrimp, 130 baht per kg of 60 shrimp, 115 baht per kg of 70 shrimp and 105 per kg of 80 shrimp -- as prices have fallen steadily over the last four months.

For instance, one kilogramme of 60 shrimp is now priced at about 110 baht, down from 120 baht in April, 128 baht in March, 131 baht in February and 124 baht in January. The farmers proposed pledging prices of about 105-160 baht to enable them to stay afloat.

Thai Union Frozen Products Plc (TUF) yesterday teamed up with 185 shrimp farmers across the country in a contract farming arrangement on an unprecedented scale of 10,000 tonnes, worth about 1.2 billion baht.

Under the deal, Thailand's major producer and exporter of canned and frozen seafood will buy from farmers at specified prices based on production costs plus a level of profit agreed between the farmers and the company.

The contract should help farmers plan what size of shrimp to produce and should cut their market risks from price fluctuations - especially between May and December, when shrimp is normally in abundant supply - said Rittirong Boonmechote, managing director of TUF's shrimp business unit.

"We believe contract farming will help reduce risks for all parties involved, especially for farmers, who will not have to worry about how to sell their shrimp during periods of surplus," he said.

Thai

Tiger shrimp breeders in the Mekong Delta are facing huge losses due to unseasonal rains, which brought a sudden change to salt concentration and the death of large numbers of shrimp.

According to the latest reports from the Department of Fishery Cultivation and Breeding of the Mekong Delta, out of 540,000 hectares of land used for trigger shrimp in late 2008, all shrimp in 148,000 hectares in Ca Mau, Kien Giang and Soc Trang provinces were killed by unseasonal rains. Only 45 percent of farmers made a profit, leaving the others to break even, at best. Many incurred losses.

The situation has led to many local farmers not having enough capital to reinvest in the coming crops.

Farmers in Lai Hoa Commune of Soc Trang Province had previously used all the land for breeding tiger shrimps, but now only 30 percent of the land has been used. Truong Thai Binh, a farmer in Lai Hoa said, “We don’t have much capital and have to buy feed on credit, but feed sellers are no longer ready to offer us this method of payment.”

Chanthaburi, Thailand - Thailand's commercial shrimp industry got a fresh start this year with Sureerath Farm's shipment of 40 tonnes of organic shrimp to Switzerland and Germany.

The exports represent Thailand's first foray into the organic shrimp market, a fairly new product even for health-conscious European customers.

The shipment also marked a new beginning for Thailand's shrimp industry, which has an environmentally dirty past.

Sureerath Farm in Laem Sing district of Chanthaburi province, 220 kilometres east of Bangkok, is the first and still only Thai farm to receive certification from Naturland, an association of organic farmers in Germany, for meeting standards for raising shrimp and ensuring product quality. The certification paved the way for Sureerath to secure orders this year from Switzerland's Co-op retailer and Germany's Deutsche See, an organic sea food distributor.

The decline in the strength of the dollar against some major global currencies, slower growth of the US economy, anti-dumping tariff disputes and reduction in consumer confidence have all weakened the world’s biggest shrimp importer, the US, which accounts for an annual shrimp import of 5,50,000 tonnes valued at around $4 billion.

Shrimp Market Consistent Fall

This decline which has affected all categories and types of shrimp imports has deleteriously affected shrimp exporting countries, including Asian countries.

Indian shrimp exports to the US has been consistently falling in recent years while those to competing destinations such as EU and Japan have proved more resilient. While shrimp exports still remain the biggest constituent of Indian marine exports, it has been falling in both quantity and value in the export basket.

Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc (CPF) is set to expand its biosecure shrimp farming system in Trat province over the next two years after completing a four-year first phase at the end of 2008.

The expansion of the Roiphet Integrated Shrimp project, which promotes white shrimp cultivation in an environmentally friendly closed system, is expected to start by 2010 once production under the one-billion-baht first phase has stabilised.

The investment budget for the next phase was not disclosed but it is likely to be less than one billion baht, according to Sujit Kaewchum, vice-president of the listed flagship of the Charoen Pokphand Group (CP).

To meet growing demand for food safety, CP Group set up its first biosecure shrimp farm on a 3,000-rai site in Trat, 230 kilometres east of Bangkok, in 2005.

Mangalore, which exports 66% of the India's total marine fish products, could be in for some serious trouble if the European Union (EU) inspectors visiting the South Wharf area at Bunder on November 20, find exacting hygiene standards lacking. But the department of fisheries is confident of passing the acid test in flying colors as, they claim that enough preparation had gone into making the export facility conform to EU standards.This is the first time an EU team is visiting the state as far as marine fish exports is concerned. There will be two EU teams visiting the East and the West coasts of the country to find out whether the fish exported to EU countries met the stringent hygiene norms at fish landing centers.

There are six fish landing centers in India - Karwar, Honnavar, Tadadi, Gangolli, Malpe and Mangalore. The EU team will visit Mangalore as it exports more than two-thirds of the marine fish products in the state, according to Maheshwaran, assistant director, Department of Fisheries. He said the EU team would not find the standards lacking as they had done everything within their limits to ensure proper standards were followed.

The seafood industry in the country will lose about RM900mil of festive season sales to Europe due to a delay in the re-audit visit from the European Union’s (EU) Food and Veterinary Office (FVO).

Malaysia Shrimp Industry Association (MSIA) president Syed Omar Syed Jaafar said the visit had been scheduled to take place between Oct 13 and Oct 24.

“The re-audit visit was postponed by the authorities because certain monitoring procedures, facilities and infrastructure such as landing areas in ports that they supervise are not ready,” he told the Malaysian StarBiz Newspaper. “However, our members have upgraded their production sites and are ready for the re-audit visit.”

In the United States, the government has ordered a recall of Sea Best brand 1.5 lb. Shrimp Skewers because certain lots of this product contain undeclared sulfites. People who have severe sensitivity to sulfites run the risk of serious or life-threatening reactions if they consume this product.

To eliminate any uncertainty, all 1.5 lb. Shrimp Skewer lots from China not listing sulfites as an ingredient are being recalled nationwide in the USA. So far no illnesses have been reported to date.

For years, U.S. inspection records show, China has flooded the United States with foods unfit for human consumption. And for years, FDA inspectors have simply returned to Chinese importers the small portion of those products they caught - many of which turned up at U.S. borders again, making a second or third attempt at entry.