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Veteran Thai shrimp farmer using nursery ponds to boost survival rates

By Tom Seaman | Published Sept. 9, 2014

A veteran Thai shrimp farmer is seeing survival rates of around 50% from his farming method, which involves the use of nursery ponds and as much natural processes as possible.

Paisarn Wong-wassana, a former colonel in the Thai police force, said survival rates on the farm he owns and another he manages for Samutsakhon-based processor Tey Seng Cold Storage are much higher than others, as farmers struggle to cope with the impact of early mortality syndrome (EMS).

“Some farmers are down at 25%,” Wong-wassana, who started shrimp farming when he bought land 30 years ago in Laem Ngop, Trat province, in the east of Thailand, close to the Cambodian border, told Undercurrent News.

“If you can control the environment, then you can reduce the risk of the shrimp succumbing to EMS."