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Competitive Agricultural Systems in a Global Economy
Aquaculture Pathology Program for Shrimp
Issue
Large scale commercial farming of shrimp is a young and rapidly growing
industry that began only 30 years ago, and now nearly half of the world
supply comes from farms. Most of the product is imported by the U.S.,
Japan and Western Europe. As the industry has grown, some very significant
shrimp diseases have emerged and have also become more widespread in
the industry, resulting in some severe epizootics in some shrimp growing
countries, and in global crop losses since 1992 averaging nearly one
billion dollars annually.
What has been done?
The Aquaculture Pathology Program in the University of Arizona College
of Agriculture and Life Sciences focuses on diagnosing and researching
shrimp diseases. The main goal is to describe and study the biology
of diseases of farm-raised shrimp and to develop diagnostic methods
and control or prevention strategies for these diseases using traditional
and modern molecular techniques.
Once an accurate diagnostic method is developed, prevention and control
methods are researched as well. These include methods for developing
specific pathogen-free or specific pathogen-resistant shrimp stocks.
The program includes a laboratory and a primary quarantine facility
which acquires wild or farmed shrimp and assesses the disease status
of these stocks. The laboratory has been designated by the Office of
International Epizootics as one of only two reference laboratories in
the world for crustacean pathogens, and it was recently received USDA
APHIS certification for shrimp disease diagnostic services. The ideal
geographic location of the UA, isolated from coastal waters, reduces
to near zero the risk of accidental introduction of shrimp pathogens
into the aquatic environment.
The UA provides expert assistance to governments and to the shrimp
farming industry with a variety of diagnostic techniques, including
microbiological and histological identification of the disease process,
electron microscopic examination of newly recognized shrimp pathogens,
as well as other standard diagnostic methods. The UA has also pioneered
the use of molecular and monoclonal antibody technologies for application
in the study and diagnosis of shrimp diseases.
Impact
Diagnostic kits based on gene probes and monoclonal antibodies have
been developed by the Aquaculture Pathology Program and transferred
to the private sector for commercial development and marketing. These
kits can be used in diagnostic laboratories and in the field at shrimp
farms and hatcheries. The kits provide the shrimp farming industry much
more rapid and sensitive tools for detecting pathogens than were available
with traditional methods like histology and live animal bioassays. Currently,
75% of the approximately 40 shrimp disease diagnostic laboratories present
in the Western Hemisphere use kits that were initially developed at
the University of Arizona. While the financial impact of these advanced
diagnostic technologies to the shrimp farming industry of the Americas
cannot be readily measured, their widespread use by the industry highlights
their importance in disease management.
Funding
Special Research Grants
Other CSREES (USDA Marine Shrimp Culture Consortium; USDA/CSREES Work
Plan for Integrated Regional Shrimp Farming Initiative AQ2 Project)
Other (Environmental Protection Agency; U.S. Department of Commerce
(grants and contracts); NSF; FAS/USAID)
Contact
Donald Lightner, professor
Department of Veterinary Science and Microbiology
The University of Arizona
PO Box 210090
Tucson, AZ 85721-0090
Tel: (520) 621-8414 FAX: (520) 621-6366
dvl@u.arizona.edu
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