ShrimpVet is a research company working to develop sustainable shrimp farming practices in Vietnam. The approach seeks to tackle the industry’s environmental, food safety, and economic challenges while providing a replicable model for global shrimp aquaculture.
“The mission of [ShrimpVet] is to revolutionize the way we do farming in Vietnam and globally,” Loc Tran, ShrimpVet’s Founder, tells Food Tank.
The carbon footprint of South Asian farmed shrimp is among the highest in aquaculture, emitting 13 kilograms of CO2 equivalents per kilogram, according to Nature. When land conversion is included, shrimp aquaculture emissions can surpass those of beef production. Soy-based shrimp feed is also a driver of deforestation, according to the Global Seafood Alliance.
“The shrimp industry has been criticized for being very high in carbon footprint,” Tran tells Food Tank. “We have to have a very holistic approach in order to reduce that carbon footprint and to protect the planet.”
According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), shrimp aquaculture is a leading cause of mangrove destruction, water pollution, and depletion of wild shrimp stocks. In Vietnam’s Mekong River Delta—the country’s aquaculture hub—mangrove coverage has nearly halved since 1973, research in Ocean and Coastal Management finds.
Mangroves are critical coastal ecosystems, sequestering up to five times more carbon than terrestrial forests, buffering coastlines against extreme weather, and providing habitats for over 1,500 species, according to the U.N.Environment Programme (UNEP).
Vietnam’s shrimp industry—which ranks among the three largest globally—is also strained by extreme weather events, high production costs, inflation, and disease, according to Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
Tran and his team seek to address these challenges. A 30-hectare farm, located in the southern Mekong Delta, serves as a testing ground for their research. Part of their approach involves reforesting mangroves.
“For every 10 hectares [of farm], we plant two to three hectares of mangroves,” says Tran. “For every hectare of mangroves, we can gain up to 130 tons of carbon sequestration.”
The farm integrates mangroves with fishponds to naturally treat wastewater. Untreated wastewater from shrimp farming can lead to algal blooms, groundwater contamination, and antimicrobial resistance, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
“When you feed the shrimp, about 30 percent of the dried matter will be utilized by the shrimp, and the rest 70 percent will be released as organic waste,” explains Tran. The fish feed on this waste, and the treated, nutrient-rich water is released through the mangroves.
“Phosphorus can create red tide. So that is why mangroves will be the last barrier, so we will convert those dissolved nutrients into biomass of the mangroves,” Tran explains. Red tides, or harmful algal blooms, make shellfish toxic to eat.
Tran has also eliminated antibiotics, which can leave antibiotic residues and create antimicrobial resistance, which threatens human health.
Instead, ShrimpVet focuses on mitigating disease risk factors, from improving the genetic quality of the shrimp to enhancing water quality, nutrition, and shrimp gut health.
“We don’t gamble,” says Tran. “We start to analyze the risk factor associated with each [aspect of] farming. And then we address them one by one.”
Risk-mitigating practices include introducing beneficial bacteria into ponds, optimizing stocking densities, and monitoring and adjusting for weather conditions. Tran says that these practices, which reduce the amount of stress that the shrimp experience, also produce tastier shrimp.
Though Tran is careful, he is also efficient: by incorporating trucks and automated systems into his operation, Tran says his harvest is ten times more efficient than traditional methods. The company’s 15 workers produce 1,500 tons of shrimp annually, which means Tran can pay his workers US$15,000-20,000. The average annual household income in Vietnam was US$2,502 in 2023, according to the Capital Economics International Conference (CEIC).
Aquaculture will need to evolve to meet growing global demand, according to Kevin Fitzsimmons, Professor and Extension Specialist at the University of Arizona and former President of the World Aquaculture Society. “Probably in the next three, four years, maybe five years, 60 percent of all the seafood in the world will be farm raised. It’s already over 50 percent,” says Fitzsimmons.
Fitzsimmons, a member of the Future of Fish Feed (F3) group, is also advocating for more sustainable aquaculture feed using ingredients like insect meal, algae, and brewing byproducts.
“We’d like to see F3 become the equivalent of grass-fed beef or free-range chickens,” he says.
Tran is on board with the initiative.
“We can do the F3, we can do sustainable feed formulation, of course we can,” Tran says.
Tran is in discussion with provincial governments about acquiring more unproductive land to scale his initiative and reforest more mangroves.
Tran hopes other farmers will copy his model. “We aim to be the most transparent food producing company in the sector,” he says. “I want to make a business model that is accessible to other investors, other farmers…So spread the word. Open source.”
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Photo Courtesy of Loc Tran
