King prawn

Litopenaeus vannamei

?: Under review How we work out the ratings

What to check for

Location

All Areas, All Areas, All areas

Production method

Pond, intensive, Pond, semi-intensive

Rating summary

There are many areas of environmental concern in King prawn aquaculture in India, Vietnam and Indonesia. This includes the use of illegal chemicals, including antibiotics, salinisation of soil and freshwater, and discharges into the environment. Supplementary feed is used in intensive and semi-intensive systems, however, there is little transparency of the ingredients used and no requirements for responsible feed sourcing. It’s also not known if there are any welfare regulations in place and management for the aquaculture sector in India, Vietnam and Indonesia is thought to be only partially effective in mitigating negative environmental impacts.Rating last updated January 2025.

Technical consultation summary

References

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V., Redman, R.M., Pantoja, C.R., Tang, K.F.J., Noble, B.L., Schofield, P., Mohney, L.L., Navarro, S.A. 2012. Historic emergence, impact and current status of shrimp pathogens in the Americas - Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, 110 (2), pp. 174-183. Available at https://arizona.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/historic-emergence-impact-and-current-status-of-shrimp-pathogens- [Accessed on 01.16.2025].MBA. 2015. Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch assessment of Farmed Whiteleg Shrimp grown in ponds in Indonesia. Available at https://www.seafoodwatch.org/recommendation/shrimp/red-shrimp-whiteleg-shrimp-indonesia-ponds?species=156 [Accessed on 01.16.2025].MBA. 2017. Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch assessment of Farmed Whiteleg Shrimp grown in ponds in Vietnam. Available at https://www.seafoodwatch.org/recommendation/shrimp/red-shrimp-whiteleg-shrimp-vietnam-intensive-pond?species=156 [Accessed on 01.16.2025].MBA. 2021. Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch assessment of Farmed Whiteleg Shrimp grown in ponds in India. Available at https://www.seafoodwatch.org/recommendation/shrimp/red-shrimp-whiteleg-shrimp-india-ponds2?species=156 [Accessed on 01.16.2025].Osbourne, Z. 2018. Pushing Vietnam’s shrimp industry toward sustainability. Mongabay. Available at https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/pushing-vietnams-shrimp-industry-toward-sustainability/ [Accessed on 01.16.2025].Palomares, M.L.D. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2021. SeaLifeBase. Litopenaeus vannamei, Whiteleg shrimp. Available at https://www.sealifebase.ca/summary/Litopenaeus-vannamei.html [Accessed on 01.16.2025].Seafish. 2013. Responsible Sourcing Guide: Marine Warm Water Prawns. Available at https://www.seafish.org/document/?id=d443878e-d50b-4d78-9d68-8b5c393ed0c0 [Accessed on 01.16.2025].STIP. 2018b. Seafood Trade Intelligence Portal: Shrimp in Vietnam. Available at https://seafood-tip.com/sourcing-intelligence/countries/vietnam/shrimp/ [Accessed on 01.16.2025].Suratin, A. 2011. Restoring neglected coastal land in Indonesia, New Agriculturist. Oxfam Indonesia. Available http://www.new-ag.info/en/focus/focusItem.php?a=2088 [Accessed on 01.16.2025].Tacon, A.G.J., Jory D. and Nunes, A. 2013. Shrimp feed management: issues and perspectives. In M.R. Hasan and M.B. New, eds. On-farm feeding and feed management in aquaculture. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper No. 583. Rome, FAO. pp. 481–488. Available at http://www.fao.org/tempref/FI/CDrom/T583/root/18.pdf [Accessed on 01.16.2025].The Asean Post. 2018. Vietnam’s shrimp exports at risk – Stephen Chin, 8 October 2018. Available at https://theaseanpost.com/article/vietnams-shrimp-exports-risk [Accessed on 01.16.2025].The Fish Site. 2018. How to improve welfare at slaughter – by Rob Fletcher, March 16 2018. Available at https://thefishsite.com/articles/seafood-welfare-at-slaughter-explained [Accessed on 01.16.2025].Undercurrent News. 2018. EU official: India shrimp farm compliance on antibiotics ‘insufficient’ – By Louis Harkell Jan 29, 2018. Available at https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2018/01/29/eu-official-says-india-shrimp-farm-compliance-on-antibiotics-is-insufficient-as-trade-challenges-dominate-goa-show/ [Accessed on 01.16.2025].Walker, P.J. and Winton, J.R. 2010. Emerging viral diseases of fish and shrimp. Veterinary Research Volume 41(6); Nov-Dec 2010. Available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2878170/ [Accessed on 01.16.2025].