The 14th annual Aquaculture Roundtable Series® (TARS) returns to address shrimp aquaculture and its challenges. Continuing the trend of focusing on this important industry in alternate years, the conference series will take place at the Shangri-La Hotel in Chiang Mai, Thailand, from August 20-21, 2025.
Shrimp aquaculture continues to be challenged by low prices due to oversupply, while constant disease outbreaks lower survival rates and productivity. Inflation pressures and rising input costs reduce margins. Prices are not expected to rise in the near future and the Asian model is no longer tenable nor economically sustainable. Gone are the days when farming mistakes could still yield good margins.
Zuridah Merican, editor of Aqua Culture Asia Pacific and Chair of TARS 2025, said that “TARS 2025 will be the most important in the recent history of shrimp aquaculture in Asia because the industry has reached a fork in the road. Supply has exceeded demand, and prices have fallen below the breakeven point in many countries. The cost of production will continue to creep upwards. We need unity and reflection among stakeholders because the current state of the industry in Asia is the primary concern of the entire shrimp industry. Without farming, there cannot be any ancillary business and the whole value chain will shut down.”
“The startup sector has mainly focused on real-time monitoring, alternative feed ingredients, feeding technology and simplifying the marketplace, but very few have looked for a new farming model. Our call to startups in shrimp farming is that when there are challenges, there are opportunities,” Merican said.
TARS 2025 will present trends and knowledge exchange through technical and panel sessions in the following areas: state of supply and demand; precision farming and gap analyses; a new model and building sustainable Asian shrimp; disease mitigation for higher productivity; technology and innovations; marketing, branding and sustainability; and future proofing with the next generation.
Participants at the TARS 2025 Interactive Roundtable Breakout Sessions will dive into Future Proofing: Precision Shrimp Aquaculture and the New Deal. There will be three groups: Genetics, Hatchery & Farming (GHF); Nutrition, Feeds & Feeding (NFF); Processing, Marketing & Branding (PMB).
TARS’s unique proposition is this interactive breakout session where all participants have a voice. This has been the forte at TARS, to get stakeholders as a group, to build possible solutions from the ground up.
“The new highly interactive format attracted more participation from the farming and hatchery segments,” added Merican. “We limit participation to 250 to facilitate networking and attendee engagement.”
Since the 2018 shrimp aquaculture series, we have made it a point to involve and nurture the next generation of shrimp farmers and entrepreneurs. The future of shrimp aquaculture rests on them. At TARS 2025, the program will encourage more participation from this group.
For more information, visit tarsaquaculture.com.
