Seawater irrigation systems for intensive marine shrimp farming in Thailand

The aim of the seawater irrigation system (SIS) is to clean up shrimp pond effluent and provide high quality seawater for shrimp farming. The system has 3 components: water intake; treatment reservoir and discharge system. There are criteria for site selection because shrimp farmers are required to form associations so they can work closely together. The construction site must be on the coastal area outside a mangrove forest and located away from a production agricultural area. All construction sites must have undergone an environmental impact assessment, and should be located on the area listed in Thailand's Coastal Zone Management Plan. Five SIS projects, which cover a culture area of 6,500 ha with 1,300 farmers (families), were completed and operated. The Department of Fisheries has planned for another 28 projects, that will cover almost 44,000 ha of culture area

Marine shrimp culture industry of Thailand: operating guidelines for shrimp farms.

The marine shrimp industry in Thailand had developed a code of conduct for its operations. This code of conduct is a set of principles and processes that provides a framework to meet the industry’s goal for environmental, social, and economic responsibility. The foundation of the code of conduct is the following mission statement. The marine shrimp farming industry in Thailand is committed to producing high quality, hygienic products in a sustainable manner that provides for environmental, social, and economic benefits for the present and future generations. Policy statements have been formulated to outline actions that the industry will undertake to meet its commitments under the mission statement. These policy statements cover a broad range of topics, including: environmental protection, public consultation, regulatory compliance, location, quality and safety, continual improvement, efficiency, research and development, social responsibility, monitoring and auditing, education and training, international trade. The code of conduct is voluntary, but it has been signed by a wide variety of industry stakeholders. The code commits the signatories to specific actions, including the development of a series of operating guidelines and procedural manuals. These actions will aid the industry in carrying out its operations in a manner consistent with the objectives of the code of conduct

Closed-recirculating shrimp farming system

This collaborative SEAFDEC/ASEAN project aimed to develop sustainable shrimp culture technology packages to address the problems in shrimp culture (e.g. discharges from shrimp farms threatening mangrove and marine ecosystems, clearing of mangrove forests to make way for shrimp ponds, etc.). In this context, a closed recirculating shrimp farming system is discussed touching on: pond preparation, water preparation, stocking, feeding, management, DO level, problems, record keeping, and harvesting

Seafarming and searanching in Thailand

Seafarming is undertaken in the coastal sublittoral zone. Different marine organisms such as molluscs, estuarine fishes, shrimps (pen culture), and seaweeds are cultured along the coast of Thailand. Seafarming, especially for mollusc, is the main activity in Thailand. The important species are blood cockle, oyster, green mussel, and pearl oyster. In 1988, production was approximately 51,000 metric tons in a culture area of 2,252 hectares.Artificial reefs have been constructed in Thailand since 1987 to enhance coastal habitats. Larvae of marine organisms have also been restocked in the artificial reef area

Carrying Capacity Estimation of Marine Finfish Cage Culture at Pathew Bay, Chumphon Province, Southern Thailand

Carrying capacity estimation of marine finfish cage culture was carried out twice at Pathew Bay, Chumphon Province during 2002-2003. The concept of oxygen budget to meet the maximum carrying capacity was used in estimation. It found that the present cage culture in the bay is 950 fish (size 250-1000 gm/fish) at FC2. And the fish is 450 fish (size 250-450 gm/fish) at FC4. When the carrying capacity estimation is concern, the culture fish is under the carrying capacity at FC2 for seabass around 33.4% or 54,250 gm (body weight). Grouper is cultured over the carrying capacity 28.0% or 84,000 gm (body weight). At FC, seabass is cultured over carrying capacity 67.1% or 135,900 gm (body weight) and grouper is cultured over carrying capacity 73.1% or 82,250 gm (body weight). This result should show to fish farmers in order to understand the cultured condition. The number of cultured fish should be decreased to meet the carrying capacity

Commerical cockle farming in Southern Thailand

Translated from Tha

Mitigation plan on the use of mangroves for aquaculture: Thailand.

Mangrove forest is one of the important coastal natural resources of Thailand, however, mangrove forests have deteriorated very rapidly at a rate of more than 50% of the mangrove loss during 1961–1996. The utilization and destruction of mangrove forest has been seriously discussed in many fora. Shrimp farming is one activity, which has disturbed the mangrove forests. According to the inventory and analysis of LANDSAT5 TM satellite imagery data of 1993, only 17.49% of shrimp farms are located in mangrove forests and only 7.36% in the productive area. In addition 10.10% of shrimp farms are in unproductive or upland area, which have been leased legally by the farmers. Therefore, the Royal Thai Government has been working closely with the local communities and NGOs to implement a mangrove reforestation program targeting a replanting of 24,394.64 ha. As a result, the mangrove area has increased to 252,750.88 ha in 2001

Coastal aquaculture in Thailand

The coastal area has been explored for aquaculture and coastal aquaculture has expanded quite rapidly in Thailand. The economically important culture species are shrimp (Penaeus monodon), sea bass (Lates calcarifer), and two species of grouper (Epinephelus malabaricus and L. salmoides). The area for marine shrimp culture in 1989 was around 78,209 hectares with a production of 100,000 tons. Approximately 40% of these ponds, by area, is under intensive shrimp cultivation. The average survival rate was reported to be 40-80% with a production of 6 tons per hectare. Sea bass and grouper are mainly cultured in cages. Two cage sizes are used: 10 x 10 x 2 and 5 x 5 x 2 meters. In 1988, the production was about 1,034 and 357 tons for sea bass and grouper, respectively