THE IMPORTANCE OF SHRIMP BREEDING IN EVOLVING THE MODERN SHRIMP INDUSTRY

Prior to 1999 the world shrimp production was stagnant with many issues developing from known diseases and unknown syndromes.  Prior to 1999, early work on domestication and shrimp maturation by the Oceanic Institute provided a basis for an industry in crisis to move from wild caught broodstock and post larvae to closed domesticated lines reproduced in closed maturation systems.  The two crisis that were picked in 1999; provided the necessity for such a drastic world change in the way the industry operated; the WSSV epidemic that swept through the Americas and the Slow Growth Syndrome that made culturing P. monodon not profitable (Fig 1)

This talk will describe the early history and problems faced by the adoption of domesticated shrimp by the industry; and the move of Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) P. vannamei to Asia and how this adoption of SPF P. vannamei in Asia lifted the world production from one million tons to three million tons in 10 years.  The domestication of shrimp also provided the platform to increase the efficiency of shrimp production that resulted in increased volumes of shrimp at lower costs to consumers.  Also, it disrupted the shrimp industry and related industries with the application of genetic selection to the domesticated stocks. The progress in breeding is generating more efficient shrimp for culture and the newly developed and evolving molecular technologies will provide the basis for the next big disruption in the shrimp industry.