January 22, 2014
Brazil launches project to ''revolutionise'' shrimp sector affected by white spot
Through the Superintendence of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil''s Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture (MPA) announced an unprecedented result in shrimp farming with the possibility to develop cost-effectively this crustacean in an area affected by white spot disease.
Brazil''s government hopes that this discovery will revolutionise the shrimp farming sector and will return the profitability lost by the presence of this viral disease.
As reported by the MPA, a pilot project developed by the firm Camanor Produtos Marinhos allowed verifying, through a new model of sustainable production, it is possible to increase productivity and quality in an environment where there is white spot virus.
The Ministry'' Superintendent of Fisheries, Abraão Lincoln Junior said, "These results are being accompanied by the MPA, and are aimed at recovering the strength, large-scale production, quality and environmental friendliness of the Brazilian shrimpproduction. That''s sustainability."
Lincoln Junior explained that MPA authorities are optimistic about the recovery of the sector during 2014. He noted that these results could generate optimism and sensitivity in institutions that provide credit to the sector.
The company implemented deep changes in concepts and in the production system. The objectives were achieved gradually: the productive capacity was multiplied and nurseries contact with external environments was zeroed.
"We are raising shrimp with high density and reducing to zero nursery contact with external environments," said fisheries engineer Luiz Peregrino, company''s technical superintendent and project''s ideologist. The specialist emphasised that water is 100% treated and reused.
In his view, this experiment will revolutionise shrimp farming and will make it possible for the shrimp processing industry to be supplied with excellent quality shrimp.
Last November, the average yield was 10,222 kilogrammes per hectare (kg/ha), while in December a production of 12,432 kg/ha was recorded, and in January 17,775 kg/ha were reached, the MPA stated.
Meanwhile, Werner Jost, founder director of Camanor, said that the result "is unprecedented in Brazil, at production scale," which is a great motivation to keep moving forward.
For 30 years, Camanor has been a pioneer in the development of technologies for shrimp production in Rio Grande do Norte, and the leading exporter of this crustacean.
Camanor invested in this pilot project BRL500,000 (US$211,550) per hectare. Jost is confident that in the medium and long term Brazil will be again a shrimp export leader.
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