Shrimp farm to export broodstocks anew to Indonesia

Saipan SyAqua Aquaculture will again export broodstocks to Indonesia after its buyer—one of the country’s biggest shrimp hatcheries—was so satisfied with the original shipment that it ordered more.

According to the local shrimp farm’s operations manager, Rommel G. Catalma, the shipment of 125 pairs of father and mother broodstock Pacific white shrimp (Pennaeus Vannamei) is scheduled on April 29.

“It will be for the same buyer in Indonesia and again it is for 125 pairs. This is very good because it means they were happy with the first shipment. The price is still the same, $25 per pair excluding packaging and freight,” he said in an e-mail to the Saipan Tribune.

Like the original shipment, the transaction easily netted the company $6,250.

Catalma said the parent shrimps exported to Indonesia weighed about 30 grams to 45 grams per piece and that the Cargo Express service that the live freight will be on will take the Saipan-Narita-Singapore-Indonesia route.

Last Dec. 27, Saipan SyAqua marked a milestone when it shipped 250 broodstocks to the Southeast Asian nation.

Currently, Saipan SyAqua is the only shrimp farm outside of Hawaii that exports Pacific white shrimp broodstock. This is because under the law, only U.S. territories are allowed to export the broodstock of that particular specie since it was developed by Hawaii’s Oceanic Institute.

Catalma added that aside from the restriction, there are also stringent requirements to be able to export parent shrimp to other countries. First, a farm or facility needs a two-year disease-free certification from the University of Arizona and then pass the inspection of the department of fisheries of the particular country the company is exporting to.

He said Saipan SyAqua passed the quarterly reviews from the University of Arizona and was given the green light to export by Thailand and Indonesia.

Earlier this year, the company embarked on an expansion of its China Town facility, which is expected to increase production by 200 percent.

While the shrimp farm currently has a watered area of 16,000 square feet, the new construction would triple its watered area to 48,000 square feet with the addition of four large grow out tanks and two nursery tanks.

It will also entail the building of a deep well, a new filtration system for water circulation, and a 50,0000-gallon water reservoir.

Catalma said the ultimate goal of the expansion is to meet current demand, which the company has trouble fulfilling, by producing between 8,000 to 10,000 lbs. of shrimp per month before the end of 2008.

Saipan SyAqua currently produces 3,000 to 4,000 lbs of shrimp per month, which it distributes to numerous hotels and restaurants on Saipan as well as sells them chilled at the Sabalu market.