Taino Aqua Ferme SA is a private company located in Lac Azuei, Fond Parisien Haiti. The company was founded in 2015 and produces whole fresh tilapia for the local Haitian market, currently producing 300 metric tons per annum. Tilapia are raised in 15-meter diameter HDPE cages inside Lac Azuei, an inland saline lake (10 ppt salinity) close to the border with the Dominican Republic on the island of Hispaniola.
Since the beginning of grow-out operations, mortality caused by Streptococcus led to low recoveries (51% on average). An approach of formulating an autogenous vaccine against this pathogen was implemented in November of 2020. To date, seventeen cages have undergone a full production cycle after having been vaccinated by injection at 30 grams ABW.
Results comparing these vaccinated cages vs control cages demonstrate an improvement of 12.5 % cumulative mortality throughout the cage farming growth cycle. Prior to implementation of the vaccination program, three day fasting periods and treatments using antibiotics approved for tilapia farming, were strategies used to mitigate acute mortality spikes. The program, which assures all the population in the farm is vaccinated, has led to a minimizing both fasting and medication, shortening culture cycle and dependency on antibiotic use.