Many people think of shrimp farming as a get rich quick scheme for large investors. This is unrealistic in terms of the present state of technological development, and a number of large investors from all over the world have been disappointed in speculative shrimp culture ventures. With existing technology there is a more realistic chance of shrimp farm development by small scale artisanal farmers. Properly managed artisanal shrimp farms can provide a good living for a large number of people. Most of the countries in the region are making progress in shrimp culture research although there is a problem in transferring new technology to small farmers. An important aspect of this problem is the lack of capital available for small holders to improve existing farms or to construct new ones. Local banks lack experience in giving shrimp farmers loans, and as a result few loans are made even though funds may be available.
The problem is that there are only a limited number of successful shrimp farming operations which can be used as a basis for evaluating financing of new farms or rehabilitation of existing ones. Information is needed on which to base economic evaluation for financing. One method of accumulating this information is through economic surveys.
Just describing the existing state of the industry as most economic surveys do is not enough. Shrimp culture as practiced in the South China Sea Region is primarily an artisanal industry using traditional technology, and production is low. In Thailand, for instance, surveys of the existing shrimp farming industry showed production was only 109 kg/ha. (Department of Fisheries, 1973). Based on this data financial institutions would be justifiably reluctant to extend loans to shrimp farmers.
There are many reasons, related not to biological productivity, but to economics, that contribute to the overall low productivity of shrimp farms in the region. Following are just a few examples:
Frequently a portion of an area described as pond is not even covered by water, and often in tidal ponds, sufficient water cannot be taken in to provide adequate water depth for protection against high temperature. The farmer cannot afford a pump or additional excavation.
Sometimes a poor farmer cannot wait for his shrimp to grow to marketable size. He has to harvest the small shrimp to purchase food. Farmers frequently are bound to sell their catches to brokers who give them low prices because the broker extends loans for living expenses in between crops.
Farmers lack risk capital and are reluctant to try new procedures. They are satisfied to obtain their present low production rather than risk a loss by trying something new or different.
There is often insufficient stocking of postlarvae. This can be caused by lack of capital.
The essential point is not to use averages when considering the potential of shrimp farming, but look at examples of well-run profitable operations. There are some profitable shrimp farms, as we saw in the two examples presented in Section 3.3. Information from successful farms can provide financial institutions with the knowledge they need to evaluate and determine the viability of individual projects, and even to recommend management of design changes for their clients. Economic surveys can play an important role in accumulating the information needed to develop loan criteria, but to be meaningful and facilitate their use as a development tool, they must be continuing and should concentrate on a few carefully selected farms: those with good management and a record of high productivity; several different size farms and ones conducting different management practices, and type of culture.
Artisanal farmers frequently do not keep records and their memories may be faulty. They sometimes give low figures because they fear tax collections, or they may give high figures to appear better than their neighbors. To overcome these factors, in an economic survey, multiple visits should be made to individual farms, detailed records of facilities and management procedures as well as economic data should be kept, and visits should be made during harvest to confirm yield data. One can then make comparisons, and formulate recommendations for transferring the technology used by the successful farmers to others.
In reference to the use of artisanal shrimp culture as a development tool, economic surveys should also look at the relative well being of shrimp farmers to determine if they live better or worse than others in their socio-economic group. In some areas shrimp farmers own radios, sewing machines and a few even have television sets, their relative well being, being much better than that of nearby rice farmers. Such information could be important to government planning when the primary object of development is to provide employment.
The most rapid development of shrimp culture in South China Sea countries could be by adopting procedures already developed and used successfully in another country within the region. That this is not done often enough is best exemplified by P. merguiensis which is the most important species of shrimp farmed in Thailand where yields of up to 800 kg/ha/year have been obtained. This shrimp is abundant throughout the region, but is not generally cultured outside Thailand. Fry collectors in Java collect P. merguiensis postlarvae while gathering milkfish fry, but discard them because the local farmers will not stock P. merguiensis as they say it disappears from their ponds. The simple fact is that these shrimp probably die from exposure to high temperature in the shallow ponds and it is likely that this shrimp could be cultured in Java if the Thai method of culture is adapted.
Additional examples of technology that could be readily adopted by others are:
The use of tea seed cake to control predaceous fish as practiced in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.
Pretreatment of tea seed cake in Malaysia.
Artisanal collection and distribution of postlarvae in the Philippines and Indonesia.
Construction of wood sluice gates in Thailand.
Construction of concrete sluice gates in Singapore.
Clearing and utilization of mangrove areas for shrimp ponds in Thailand.
Use of water pumps in Thailand.
These are just a few examples of areas where cooperative exchange of information would be useful. There must be more as the author has not visited all areas. To facilitate the exchange of information there should be more frequent contact between researchers in different countries. The best method of achieving this is by extended working visits.
In the previous section we saw that there is a need for a greater exchange of technology between countries within the region. There is all too frequently insufficient technical support for shrimp farmers in each country. Very few countries have aquaculture extension agents working in brackish water, and those agents have only a minimal background in shrimp culture. Research workers cannot be expected to perform both extension and research activities. Extension workers are needed if the results of research are to be implemented, and because of their great interest in developing brackish water aquaculture, countries in the region should be setting up extension programmes to facilitate rapid development. It will take several years to establish an effective programme of extension including creation of extension positions, training of personnel for the positions, and enumerating criteria that shrimp farmers must meet to become cooperators. Valuable time will be lost if organization of extension activities does not develop simultaneously with research.
Shrimp production could be increased in many areas just by the application of existing technology. Often the reason technological innovations are not put into use is because the necessary supplies are either not available or are too costly because of import duties. Government can play an important role in ensuring the availability of supplies. Relaxation of import duties on equipment used in shrimp culture makes sense, because a great deal of the shrimp produced will be exported, thereby increasing foreign reserves. The following items are often too costly or unavailable in the region:
pumps, generators and air blowers
fertilizers, allocations are sometimes made for agriculture, but not for aquaculture
scientific equipment such as salinometers and chemical analysis equipment
fine mesh nylon material to make collecting nets and screens to keep out fish
tea seed cake to eliminate fish
chemicals for nutrient solutions used in algal culture
Artemia eggs
