Tiger Prawn (Panaeus monodon)

En - Giant tiger prawn, Fr - Crevette géante tigrée, Es - Langostino jumbo

Shrimp farming has been practiced for more than a century for food and the livelihood of coastal people in some Asian countries, such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan Province of China, Thailand and Vietnam. Penaeus monodon was originally harvested together with other shrimp species from traditional trapping-growing ponds or as a significant by-product of extensive milkfish ponds. From 1970-1975, research on breeding was conducted and monoculture techniques in small ponds were gradually developed at the Tungkang Marine Laboratory in Taiwan Province of China and partly at the IFREMER (Centre Océanologique du Pacifique) in Tahiti in the South Pacific. In Thailand, extensive and semi-intensive farms were commercially established in 1972 and 1974 respectively, after the first success in breeding P. monodon at Phuket Fisheries Station in 1972. Between 1980 and 1987 there was a boom of small-scale intensive farms in Taiwan Province of China due to commercial success in formulated feed development, mainly to produce shrimp for export to Japan. However, it is believed that a viral disease outbreak caused the collapse of the industry in Taiwan Province of China in 1987-1988. This led Thailand, encouraged by extremely high prices in the Japanese market due to supply shortages, to replace Taiwan Province of China as the world's leading producer of farm-raised P. monodon in 1988. Later, the culture of this species spread throughout southeast and south Asia, as it can grow-up to a large size (40-60 g) with high value and demand in the international market. The locally adapted culture technology has allowed Thai farmers to overcome serious disease, environmental and trade problems and maintain its status as a leading producer.

The introduction or importation of wild broodstock is commonly practiced among the major producing countries because local supplies are insufficient and domestication technology has not yet been commercially developed. However, disease-free broodstock are highly desirable and some countries require health certification of imported stock.

Market & Trade

I.Products

Frozen head-on, head-off, and peeled shrimp used to be the major products for export to the main markets, which are USA, EU and Japan. Later, value-added products, such as microwavable or ready-to-cook tempura, sushi, shaomei, hargao, straightened, skewered, battered and breaded, spring roll and balls mainly processed in Thailand, have become increasingly popular. This has been because tight economic conditions in many developed countries limit frequent dinner in restaurants, and the time for cooking at home is scarce. Chilled product, which is sold in domestic markets, is generally non-exportable grade and shares less than 10 percent of all markets. Live product, which is mainly for domestic Chinese restaurants with some exports to Hong Kong and China, also shares less than 2 percent.

II.Prices and market statistics

In financial value, Penaeus monodon is the most important traded aquaculture commodity in Asia. C&F prices in Japan, whose market mainly requires large headless (16/20 size) shrimp from extensive and semi-intensive farms in Indonesia, India and Vietnam, varied from US$ 9-14/kg during 2001-2004. The US market purchased mainly small headless (21/25 size) shrimp (both peeled and shell-on) from intensive farms in Thailand and India at C&F prices ranging from US$ 7-13/kg during the same period. The EU market, which mainly requires small head-on shrimp (31/40 size) from South East Asian intensive farms, paid C&F prices between US$ 4.7 and 9.0/kg during 2001-2004.

III.Market regulations

Sanitary standards, standards for the uses of drugs and chemicals, and common food safety regulations for seafood (particularly shrimp) are already high in all major import countries. However, the EU market has more strict regulations (zero tolerance) on residues of chemicals and antibiotics, as well as the trade privilege or Generalized System of Preference (GSP) on import tax and HACCP. The US market enforces more strictly on a sanitary standard such as HACCP or Sensory Assessment. There are also additional regulations in the US regarding anti-dumping of imported shrimp, and the application of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) on wild shrimp fishing fleets in exporting countries.

Status & Trends

I.Research

The following are urgent issues for study:

• Domestication technology, which also leads to the efficient development of disease-free broodstock similar to those for Litopenaeus vannamei, is a major topic for on-going and future research in various institutions, including private sector organizations all over the world.
• Vaccination and effective treatment of shrimp viruses.
• Replacement of non-environmental friendly and costly fishmeal and Artemia in shrimp feeds.
• Efficient water treatment system for closed systems.

II.Development

Expansion in aquaculture production of Penaeus monodon has not been as great as was originally expected, due to a number of causes, including major problems with viral disease outbreaks, shortages of broodstock, market competition and trade barriers. In addition, many farmers that originally reared Penaeus monodon have replaced this species with Litopenaeus vannamei, for which culture and domestication technologies are much simpler. L. vannamei disease problems are less severe, particularly for culture in inland freshwater ponds. Due to its lower price, this new species can be increasingly sold in domestic markets, which ensures stable incomes for farmers instead of only relying on the unstable export price. Shrimp farming will be more sustainable if farmers can shift production to other species when the existing cultured species faces problems. Decreasing P. monodon production can also improve the status of its broodstock in the wild in the future because less will be caught and less disease from grow-out ponds will be introduced into the sea. Due to this alternative species, the growth of P. monodon production is predicted to slow in the immediate future. Later, it may increase again if the research needs outlined above are addressed, thus improving the sustainability of production and reducing operational costs.

III.Market

In general, Penaeus monodon is the most prominent farmed crustacean product in international trade and has driven a significant expansion in aquaculture in many developing countries in Asia. Market prices during its early development were quite good due to little competition and strong demand from the Japanese market. International markets appear to have become almost saturated since global production reached 600 000 tonnes/yr. The price for P. monodon has since fallen, particularly during the booming of the production of Litopenaeus vannamei in Asia from 2001-2004. However, its price is still higher than L. vannamei. In the future, the market for P. monodon is expected to be less bright than it was in 1990s, due mainly to the saturation of export markets and reduction in world economic growth, as well as the emergence of non-tariff barriers in shrimp trade (such as anti-dumping rules), chemical residues, food safety, certification and eco-labelling in some importing countries. There has been increasing change in consumer preference from shrimp to marine fish, due to the lower cholesterol and higher omega-3 in fish.

IV.Recommendations

In order to continue the growth of shrimp farming smoothly in the long term, domestic consumption should be promoted to avoid the problematic export markets. However, the domestic price should be reduced in order to encourage local consumption, through the use of advanced, efficient and sustainable culture systems. This is similar to the advanced chicken or salmon farming systems that have reduced production costs and guaranteed survival. Shrimp farmers in Asia should select whether to stock either P. monodon or L. vannamei according to the foreseen market and operational problems such as competition, climate and disease outbreak season.

Information Source

http://www.fao.org/fishery/culturedspecies/Penaeus_monodon/en