The Dutch shrimp consortium ShrimpTechVietnam visited Vietnam from Monday 9 to Friday 13 September 2019 to bring sustainable shrimp farming practices to Vietnam.

ShrimpTechVietnam

ShrimpTechVietnam is a public-private partnership established in April 2019. The consortium consists of leading companies and knowledge institutes from the Netherlands and Vietnam, active is various steps of the shrimp value chain. These partners all see specific opportunities in the shrimp sector and believe that collaboration is the best way to contribute to the sustainable development of the local private shrimp sector in Vietnam.

The Netherlands Government supports Dutch companies with sharing best practices and knowledge, and demonstration activities in Vietnam; the Dutch government is involved in this partnership. Larive International and its Vietnam-based affiliate OpenAsia coordinate this consortium. The other consortium partners are: TopsyBaits, TipTopp aquaculture, Sustainable Aquaculture Solutions, Nutreco (Skretting), and Shrimpvet.

Trials & demonstration with Dutch products

The conduction of trials with Dutch products and solutions played a central role during this impact tour. The consortium partners aim to run trials to demonstrate, proof and promote their products and solutions. Trials and demonstrations are not only important for the registration of Dutch products, but also to gain trust of Dutch products within the Vietnamese shrimp sector. The consortium visited potential sites where they could run trials. Additionally, the consortium had meetings with Shrimpvet director Loc Tran, who will perform trails on lab and farm level scale in his independent laboratory.

Farm visits

In order to gain a better understanding of current shrimp farming practices multiple farms have been visited. The consortium visited hatcheries, small-scale extensive monodon shrimp farms, intensive vannamei shrimp farms, and one big intensive pond shrimp farm. A couple of challenges came to light during the visits. First of all farmers experience multiple frequently occurring diseases. The farmers often did not know how to manage the diseases and used antibiotics for disease reduction. This usage of antibiotics and other chemicals results in contaminated shrimp. Furthermore, most of the farmers are unaware about their negative environmental impact. Farmers lack knowledge regarding biosecurity and wastewater treatment, resulting in pollution. During the farm field visits the consortium also visited some shrimp farming supply shops. These visits indicated that farmers trust the sales person, and often decides on which product to used based on what the shop owner recommends. Overall, farmers are unaware about the wide variety of options to make their practices more sustainable while reducing the costs.

Tackling challenges

This consortium will tackle the above mentioned challenges during a range of training, demonstration, and research activities. This impact tour provided the entire consortium with better insights in where to add value, and how to make a sustainable impact in the Vietnamese Shrimp sector.

Contact

For more information, please contact Wouter van Vliet.