It’s been said that microbes will do the human race in, not war. While an infected form of the Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria isn’t killing people, it’s doing plenty of damage to the farmed shrimp industry.
The bacteria, and the condition it causes, has been decimating shrimp farms in Southeast Asia since 2009. Acute hematopancreatic syndrome, otherwise known as Early Mortality Syndrome, or EMS, has cost the industry several billion U.S. dollars. U.S. lawmakers are worried enough to suggest barring imports of shrimp that might be infected with the disease, for fear of it spreading.
Hints about more export problems are not what shrimp dealers in Southeast Asia want to hear right now. Just recently, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced new trade duties against China, Malaysia and Vietnam, among other countries, to counteract government subsidies in those countries that undercut domestic shrimp producers in the United States. The last thing shrimp farmers want is yet more regulation, connected to a condition that, until recently, no one could even properly identify, let alone control.
Recent research provides some positive news, with the discovery first of the bacteria that is causing the problem. Then, more recent research suggested managing the pH — or level of acidity — in shrimp ponds is key to driving away the bacteria, and thus the disease.
Promising developments, yes, but don’t count on a bumper crop of shrimp within the next year or so. According to George Chamberlain, president of the Global Aquaculture Alliance, maintaining a consistent, balanced pH is harder than it sounds. With algal blooms influencing the acidity of the water simply by absorbing sunlight, maintaining proper water balance is tricky.
Still, it’s pretty safe to say that the Southeast Asian shrimp industry is closer to controlling EMS than it was six months ago. With any luck, some of the larger farms will be able to put a stop to the disease, and get on with a business that has been, of late, a little under the weather.
