International Collaborating Centre for Aquaculture

Can financial institutions support implementation of Better Management Practices (BMP) and certification?

What are the interests of financial institutions on Better Management Practices (BMP) & certification of shrimp farming? How to support the BMP/certified shrimp farmers to achieve better financial services? In September 2011, the International Collaborating Centre for Aquaculture and Fisheries Sustainability (ICAFIS) conducted several interviews with key financial institutions in Soc Trang province to find answers for these questions. The answer? It is possible!

The Shrimp Aquaculture Dialogue Releases Final Draft of Standards, soon to become the ASC shrimp standards

Responding to the need to improve the sustainability of the shrimp faring sector, hundreds of stakeholders contributed to the Shrimp Aquaculture Dialogue, a process aimed at developing credible standards for responsible shrimp farming. The process, which started in 2007, issued a first set of draft standards in 2010. Realising that the standards needed considerable improvement to be applicable to the Vietnamese context, especially to the Vietnamese small-scale farmers, Dr Pham Anh Tuan of the Directorate of Fisheries and by Dr Flavio Corsinof ICAFIS, under VINAFIS, decided to join the Global Steering Committee that coordinates the development of the standards.

Strengthening communication with small-scale shrimp farmers

Although the bulk of production comes from small-scale farmers, their advocacy and ability to communicate on their challenges are still limited. This difficulty raises many obstacles and challenges not only for farmers, but also for the stakeholders involved in the shrimp aquaculture sector (e.g. the Vietnam Fishery Society VINAFIS) as they are hampered in their effort to truly represent the farmers' views and challenges.

For this reason, as part of the project "Promoting certification and Better Management Practices among small-scale shrimp farmers in Vietnam", funded by WWF DK and supported by the Danish government, The International Collaborating Centre for Aquaculture and Fisheries Sustainability (ICAFIS) conducted a survey in Soc Trang and Ca Mau provinces in August 2011 with the objective of understanding the communication challenges of farmers and to identify potential solutions. As result, a strategy to improve communication with VINAFIS (the organization representing the farmers in Vietnam) was drafted and pilot tested in 2 cooperatives of Soc Trang province.

The results of the survey demonstrated that: television is the most common method through which the farmer gets information. In addition, other information gathering tools such as radio, telephone, magazine, SMS and email were also used. The survey also highlighted that there was at least 1 computer connected to the internet in each of the 2 farmer cooperatives in Soc Trang province.

Promoting Better Management Practices for Vietnamese small-scale shrimp farmers

Better Management Practices (BMPs) are simple farming management practices to assist farmers in producing more sustainably. BMPs are aiming at complying with certification standards have beenintroduced to farmers through trainings held in Soc Trang and Ca Mau provinces in October 2011.

Overview

Shrimp farming is one of the most rapidly growing aquaculture, which globally has been associated with considerable revenue for farmers. During the last decade, we have witnessed a strong development of shrimp farming in both volume of production as well as value. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations(FAO), in 2009, the volume of world shrimp aquaculture reached almost 3.5 million tons worth US$14.6 billion, up to over 300% in volume and over 200% in value compared to the year 2000. According to MARD, in 2010 Vietnam produced approximately 470,000 ton (including both P. monodon and P. vannamei) leading to about 241,000 tons of shrimp products being exported, worth US$2.1 billion (VASEP). However, the rapid growth of shrimp farming also raises some negative impacts on the environment and society. For example, according to FAO, mangrove forests in Viet Nam shrank from 400,000 ha in 1950 to just 269,150 ha in 1980 and then to 157,000 ha in 2005 (FAO 2007). In this "shrinkage", shrimp farming indeed played an important role. Disease outbreaks have also challenged the livelihood of farmers. These are just examples ofthe challenges faced by the shrimp industry, challenges that need to be overcome to move towards sustainable development of the sector.

How much does compliance with shrimp certification standards cost?

According to the trade statistic of Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) in 2010, Vietnam exported nearly 241.000 metric tons of shrimp, worth US$ 2.106, up 13.4% in volume and 24.1% in value compared to 2009. The major markets of Vietnamese shrimp are Japan, United States, European Union and South Korea. Shrimp farming plays an important role in the national economy and providing livelihoods for hundreds of thousands of small-scale farmers. About the area of shrimp farming, the area of black tiger shrimp in the Mekong Delta River reaches 564,845 ha, accounting for 92 % of the country's total production of 309,275 metric tons.

While the fast growth of shrimp farming has been bringing positive economic outcomes, with the exception of disease outbreaks which have sometimes caused considerable losses, it also raised concerns about potential negative social and environmental impacts. In fact, shrimp farming has sometimes been acused of negative impacts associated with habitat conversio, nutrients and organic matter discharge; chemical and medicine use and discharge, disease transmission to wild populations, salinization of agriculture land and the introduction of non-native shrimp species.

With the purpose of mitigating the impacts of shrimp farming and moving towards sustainability, the Shrimp Aquaculture Dialogue (ShAD) was created to develop standards for responsible shrimp production. When finalized, the standards will be given to the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), which will coordinate the process of certification of farms.

A key question when implementing voluntary standard such as the ones developed by the ShAD is "How much does compliance with shrimp certification standards cost"? This questions is especially important for small-scale shrimp farmers, whose profits are already limited by the challenges they face.