Biosecurity in Hatchery and

Grow-out Facilities

Mangrove Crab

Leobert D. de la Peña
Fish Health Section, SEAFDEC/AQD
Tigbauan, Iloilo, Philippines
 Important references on shrimp biosecurity
Lotz, J.M. 1997. Disease control and pathogen status in
an SPF-based shrimp aquaculture industry,
with particular reference to the United States.
pp. 243–254. In T.W. Flegel and I.H. MacRae.
(eds.) Diseases in Asian Aquaculture III.
Asian Fish. Soc., Fish Health Sect., Manila,
Philippines.
Fegan, D.F. & Clifford, H.C. III. 2001. Health management
for viral diseases in shrimp farms. pp. 168–
198 In C.L. Browdy and D.E. Jory. (eds.) The
New Wave: Proceedings of the Special
Session on Sustainable Shrimp Farming. The
World Aquaculture Society. Baton Rouge, LA,
USA..
FAO. 2003 Health management and biosecurity
maintenance in white shrimp (Penaeus
vannamei) hatcheries in Latin America
Danner, G.R., and Merril, P., 2006. Disinfectants,
disinfection and biosecurity in aquaculture. In.
Aquaculture Biosecurity, prevention, control
and eradication of aquatic animal diseases.
Scarfe, A.D., Lee, C. and O’Bryen, P.J.
Blackwell Publishing. USA. 182p.
The Shrimp Book. Editor, Victoria Alday Sanz. 2010.
Nottingham University Press. United Kingdom.
 Problem:
Economic losses in aquaculture

Cause:
Mortalities in stocks due to
disease outbreaks

Solution:
Strict implementation of
biosecurity program
 What is biosecurity?
The sum total of the activities and measures taken by aquaculture production
facility to protect the cultured stocks from the possible negative impacts
resulting from the introduction and spread of serious aquatic animal diseases
(modified from FAO, 2007).

Sets of practices that will reduce the probability of a pathogen introduction

and its subsequent spread from one place to another (Lotz, 1997).

Biosecurity = “safe life” (Greek, bios = life + Latin, securitas = secure/safe)

Biosecurity = risk management

Biosecurity refers to the activities with the goal:

1. prevent
2. control
3. eradicate risks to life and health
4. reduce the economic impact of diseases
Biosecurity is a tool for sustainability
 Health is a measure of productivity

• Average 65% survival in the ponds

= 35% mortality
• Average 35% survival in hatchery
=65% mortality

There is a lot of room for improvement

 Designing a biosecurity plan

Measures should be:

1. Justifiable: Should be scientifically sound.
2. Practical: Should not impede routine farming
practices.
3. Economically viable: should find a balance
between benefit and cost of the
biosecurity measures.
 Steps in designing a biosecurity program
1. Health status of the shrimp
- Presence of primary pathogens
- Screening and diagnostic techniques used
- Surveillance program: inside and outside
• Preparedness
2. Listed pathogens
- Identification of the “listed pathogens”
• Pathogens we want to screen out of the system
• Should have (potential) economic impact
> Survival
> Performance
• Agents properly identified and methods available to
do it
 Steps in designing a biosecurity program

3. Defining biosecurity measures

Identification of risks
- Risk of introduction (incoming water, wild
crustaceans, visitors, fresh feed, etc)

External biosecurity: exclusion of the pathogen

- Risk of spread or release (movement of vehicles

and staff, compartmentalization of production
units, sharing of equipment, etc)
Internal biosecurity: containment of the pathogen
 Risk Identification
Principle 1. Hazard analysis: to identify the infectious hazards,
at each step of the process
Principle 2. Critical control points: actions are taken to reduce
or eliminate the hazard
Principle 3. Critical limits: the limits to which the hazard must
be reduced (ex. level of filtration)
Principle 4. Monitoring: observation and measurement of
cleaning and disinfecting to ensure the critical
limits are met at each step
Principle 5. Correction: action must be taken if the critical limits
are not met at step
Principle 6. Recording: records must be kept to show that the
biosecurity program is in place and being
implemented correctly and continuously
Principle 7. Verification: tests and procedures to ensure that the
HACCP is working properly
 Hazard analysis critical control point
(HACCP) approach

The HACCP approach is a preventive risk

management system based upon a hazard analysis
and has been widely used to identify and control risks
to human health in food-processing systems.
HACCP principles have been applied as a risk
management tool to control viral pathogens in shrimp
research and production facilities.
 External Biosecurity

Identification of possible sources of shrimp

pathogens – to define the appropriate
procedures to control or reduce risk
Spread to wild populations – to minimize the
prevalence of the pathogen in wild animals
surrounding the facility as this become an
external biosecurity problem
External visitors - present a relative risk to
biosecurity
 External Biosecurity

Possible sources of shrimp pathogens and risk mitigation measures

Source
Shrimp for stocking/broodstock
Wild crustaceans
Fresh feed
Water
Non-host biological carriers (birds
and insects)
Fomites (inanimate objects)
Effluents and waste water
Mitigation measures
Use SPF, PCR analysis
Crab fences, pesticide
Stop use of crustacean, eviscerate
and clean fresh feed
Disinfection, filtration (300 microns)
Bird scare, ultrasound, mosquito nets
in small pond, avoid lighting overnight
Washing and disinfection, shower
and cloth changing
Disinfection, biofiltration, use of
waste water pond
 Internal Biosecurity
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) – risk
mitigation measures incorporated in SOPs
for routine application
Fallowing (crop rotation) – dry out periods break
re-infection cycles
All-in-all-out – minimize the risk of infection from
different batches
Zoning and compartmentalization – increases
the control and maintenance of areas that
are pathogen free
Use of uniforms – color coding to permit spotting
at a glance if everyone is in their allocated
areas
Restrictions in personnel and vehicle
movements – reduce risk of viral particles present
in vehicles from reaching a susceptible
host
Disinfection –eradicate or decrease pathogen load
 Steps in designing a biosecurity program

4. Contingency plan
- Objective: to recover production within the
shortest time and with the minimal cost
- The efficiency will depend on the speed of the
initial response to an emergency

Clinical signs are warnings!!

Should always be investigated
Effective biosecurity program requires:

1. Understanding of hatchery and grow-out

operations
2. General principles of disease transmission
3. Knowledge about the biology of the
cultured organism
4. Proactive attitude
Biosecurity in Hatchery Operation
Stages of Hatchery Operation

Facility Preparation

Water Management

Maturation

Hatchery

Natural food
 Facility Preparation
Control at entrance for personnel, vehicles and other disease vectors to
prevent transfer of infections from other hatcheries and environment
50-100 ppm Chlorine or commercial disinfectants treated foot bath and
tire bath
 Water Management

All the water used in production units must be treated (20-30 ppm chlorine,
ozone, or UV) to kill pathogens

Bacterial analysis of the seawater should be conducted before stocking.

Treated Seawater
 Maturation
Disinfection of tanks, rearing water, and air lines (20-30 ppm Chlorine)
Disinfection of broodstocks (30 min, 150 ppm Formalin)
 Hatchery

Regular dry-out periods

Cleaning and disinfection

of tanks, and other
paraphernalia
(20-30 ppm Chlorine)

Separation of working
materials for each
room/life stage
 Natural food

Entrance of non-essential personnel

to algal production facility is
restricted
Disinfection of tanks, other
paraphernalia, and seawater
used for the algal culture
(20-30 ppm Chlorine)
Disinfection of Artemia nauplii
(20 ppm Chlorine)
 Chemicals and their uses
in the hatchery

Source:
FAO. 2003. Health management and biosecurity
maintenance in white shrimp (Penaeus
vannamei) hatcheries in Latin America.
 Mangrove Crab Grow-out Culture
Traditional Culture System

Wild/Hatchery/Nursery
Reared Crablets

Proper Pond Preparation

Stocking of Crablets

Grow-out

Harvest

Survival: 40-60 %
 Mangrove Crab Grow-out Culture
Aquasilviculture System

Trash fish and

Stocking of Live Feeds
Crablets

Wild/Hatchery/Nursery
Reared Crablets

Grow-out

Harvest
Survival: 60-70 %
 Mangrove Crab Grow-out Culture
Recirculating Aquaculture System

Compartments/Modules

UV and
Rapid Sand Filters

Source: RAS Aquaculture, 2021 Biofilters

 Mangrove Crab Grow-out Culture
Recirculating Aquaculture System

Nursery
Phase

Hatchery
Phase

Stocking in
individual
compartments

Harvest Rearing

Survival: 80-90 % Source: RAS Aquaculture, 2021

 Once the biosecurity program is
established…

Need to have a regular review and audit

by an expert
Thank you!
Biosecurity in Grow-out Operation

Stages of Grow-out culture

Fry Selection Pond Preparation

Water Source Stocking of Fry

Reservoir /
Feeding Management
Treatment Pond

Greenwater Pond Water Management

 Fry Selection

AHPND analysis for the shrimp once a week,

and WSSV once in 2 weeks. Bacterial analysis of water 2X a week
 Water Source

Disinfection of pond water (20-30 ppm Chlorine)

Fertilization reduces the risk of disease outbreak

in lower stocking density farms

Water filtration using filters of 250 μm mesh size

Water conditioning for 10–15 days before stocking

 Reservoir /
Treatment Pond
Filter bags, flumes, dikes, paraphernalia and liner
are disinfected with chlorine (20 – 30 ppm) or
commercial disinfectants
Water pumped into the pond should be disinfected
with chlorine (20-30 ppm)
Disinfected seawater is settled for 3 days with
aeration before using as rearing water in grow-
out ponds.
 Greenwater Pond

Use disinfected water from treatment

pond

Stock tilapia fish at 2 tons/ha to

minimize the growth of pathogenic
Vibrio

Monitor phytoplankton profile,

bacterial tests (Luminous Bacterial
Count, V. parahaemoliticus, Total
Vibrio Count).
 Pond Preparation/
Management
3. Pulverizing /
1. Mouldboard 2. Mouldboard 4. Mouldboard
Harrowing

8. Pulverizing / 5. Pulverizing /
7. Disc Plow 6. Liming
Harrowing Harrowing

10. Fixing of 11. Fixing of

9. Levelling &
Filter Screens paddle wheel 12. Liming
Compacting
/Tanks/Bunkers aerators
 Pond Preparation/
Management
Installation of HDPE liner eliminates cross
contamination of disease from seepage
between pond dikes

Reduce pond preparation time and cost

Improves water conservation and control

soil erosion
 Pond Preparation/
Management

Bird
scare

Crab fence

Aerosol barrier Hand washing area Foot bath in between ponds

 Stocking of Fry

Upon arrival, the fry bags are disinfected

and rinsed with freshwater water prior to
stocking

Stock into green water, avoid stocking in

transparent water
 Feeding management

From DOC 2, implement nutritional

supplementation in the feeds

Supplement the feeds with

probiotics, immunostimulant and
vitamins for better digestion and
gut wellness.
 Water Management
In-house lab for monitoring of physico-
chemical parameters,
phytoplankton count and bacterial
load 2X a week (Luminous Bacterial
count, V. parahaemoliticus, Total
Vibrio Count).

Periodic application of organic

disinfectant to lower bacterial load,
trace elements (5-10 kgs/ha) for
stable algal bloom and probiotics in
water and soil every 15 days.