Benchmark’s new "Insights" series explores some of aquaculture’s key challenges and opportunities with perspectives from industry experts. The first issue, Technologies shaping the future of shrimp production, is based on interviews with experts from multiple disciplines including George Chamberlain, president of the Global Aquaculture Alliance; Liris Madungtyas, CEO of data company, JalaTech; Nonglak "Anne" Thaisin, founder and CEO of shrimp producer, Quality Farms; and Marcela Salazar, genetics expert at Benchmark. The magazine was presented during the World Shrimp Conference in Bangkok, where the company also hosted a roundtable that focused on collaboration in shrimp production along the value chain.
In a recent participatory survey conducted by Benchmark, "citizens" were voted to be the stakeholder group which will be the biggest force for positive change in how food is produced over the next five years. The report points out that “public awareness around how our food is produced is no new thing – farmers, producers, retailers and consumers are all citizens and we all can and need to drive change”.
It is widely known that the growth in the shrimp industry is heavily impacted by disease outbreaks, which have been reported to result in losses of up to 40%, amounting to billions of dollars annually. Based around the key risk areas identified in the recent FAIRR report – including disease, antibiotic use, animal welfare, feed supply and transparency – interviewees highlight how the uptake of new technologies and better management techniques such as data, diagnostics, sensors, genomics, and nutrition are tackling key challenges and contributing to a more sustainable sector.
Olivier Decamp, segment director at Benchmark Advanced Nutrition, said that “this is an extremely valuable publication as it combines a succinct overview of the evolution of the shrimp sector with expert insights into the latest developments. It outlines many of the hurdles facing shrimp producers across the world as well as some of the most innovative and environmentally sound ways of overcoming them.”
The report is available to download here.
