Technologies shaping the future of shrimp production
Expert insights into the key challenges and opportunities in shrimp aquaculture are offered in a new thought leadership magazine launched today.
The ‘Benchmark Insights’ publication, titled ‘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, a genetics expert at Benchmark.
The magazine, published by Benchmark, will be officially launched today during the World Shrimp Conference in Bangkok, where the company is also hosting a roundtable with a focus on collaboration in shrimp production along the value chain.
In a recent participatory poll conducted by Benchmark, ‘citizens’ were voted to be the stakeholder group which will be the biggest force for positive change in how we produce food 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.