Shrimp Surveillance & Certification Program (SSCP)

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Shrimp Surveillance Certification Program (SSCP)

• Allen C. Riggs DVM, MS
• Veterinary Medical Officer
• Aquaculture Development Program Disease
  Prevention (ADP-DP)
• Hawaii Dept of Agriculture (HDOA)

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SSCP

• Voluntary partnership between Hawaii marine
  shrimp broodstock and seedstock producers with
  the Hawaii Department of Agriculture
• 3rd party oversight with chain of custody sample
  collection and handling to USDA-APHIS certified
  crustacean diagnostic lab

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SSCP Protocol Overview

• The primary goal is for marine broodstock and
  seedstock producers to acquire Specific Pathogen
  Free (SPF) status for their facility
• The Program is based on polymerase chain reaction
  (PCR) testing protocols following OIE guidelines
  for the 7 currently listed OIE marine shrimp
  pathogens
• 24 months continuous negative testing is required
  for SPF status

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Origin of SSCP

• Initial surveillance protocols were started in
  the late 1990s for each operations internal
  biosecurity
• This was not the standardized 3rd party HDOA
  program of today but was a good starting point
  for several reasons
• Most important is this was a voluntary program
  that the industry considered important and the
  cost/time involved was worth the investment
• This mindset facilitated the more structured
  current SSCP program

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International Import Regulations

• Only recently have most international countries
  required health certification and specific
  pathogen testing documentation for live marine
  shrimp broodstock and seed stock to enter their
  countries
• No uniformity but the current OIE crustacean
  disease list is the best template for a basic
  SSCP program

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Marine shrimp life/farming cycle

• Adult female day 0
  stenohaline
• Fertilized egg day 0-5
• Nauplius larvae day 1-2
• Zoea larvae day 2-7
• Mysis larvae day 7-10
• PL (post-larvae) day 10-25 euryhaline
• Juvenile day 25-90
• Subadult day 90-150
• Lightner Shrimp Disease and Diagnosis - 2006

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Hawaii Marine Broodstock Shrimp

• 12 marine broodstock shrimp producers currently
  in operation on four islands in Hawaii ( Oahu,
  Molokai, Kauai and Big Island )
• Most important component of shrimp farming in
  Hawaii 3 Million dollar annual farmgate value
• Typical marine broodstock shrimp is 11 -12 months
  old with a reproductive life span of 3 to 6
  months maximum
• For intra-island, interstate( to mainland US), or
  international export must have health
  certification and specific pathogen negative
  status documentation

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Hawaii Seedstock Shrimp

• Again these 12 operations can also supply
  seedstock to other broodstock producers or to
  off-site commodity food shrimp producers
• Typically PL after day 8 (osmoregulate) to day 25
  are sold for growout stocking
• For intra-island transfer to second party
  grow-out operations, interstate( to mainland US),
  and international exports health certification
  and specific pathogen negative testing
  documentation is also required

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SSCP Sampling Protocols

• New Facility
• Export Facility
• SPF Facility
• Tissues sampled hemolymph, pleopods, and fecal
  strands for survival methods with broodstock
• Whole or partial PL for lethal methods with
  smaller animals
• Only one shrimp farm/site is visited per 24 hours
  to allow for adequate disinfection of
  staff/equipment

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SSCP- SPF shrimp definition

• The SSCP definition for SPF shrimp refers to a
  stock that is subject to a regular PCR
  surveillance program for the 7 current OIE listed
  marine shrimp pathogens with a minimum of 24
  months continuous testing
• USDA-APHIS certified lab to diagnose crustacean
  diseases must be used
• OIE guidelines for surveillance protocols to be
  followed
• No farm submitted surveillance samples only
  ADP/HDOA 3rd party chain of custody sample
  collection used in the SSCP
• No requirements for biosecurity or husbandry type
  in this definition

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New Facility

• Site specific
• Test schedule will be months 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, and
  24 months
• A total number of 60 shrimp will be tested for
  all 7 listed diseases 95 confidence/ 5
  prevalence for populations up to and over 100,000
  shrimp ( Section 3.2 Diagnosis in subclinical
  crustacean carriers Manual of Dx Tests for AA -
  2006)
• Sampling regime includes all life stages on site
• Shrimp used to stock this facility must originate
  from a SPF facility

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Export Status Facility

• Site specific
• Successful completion of three negative sample
  sets in the New farm program months 1, 3, and 6
• Facility now allowed to ship/export live shrimp
  with health documents
• SPF language not used to describe stocks
• Testing will continue at months 12, 18, and 24
  with the 60 shrimp/sample set to acquire SPF
  certification

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Specific Pathogen-Free Facility

• Site specific
• Shrimp used to stock this facility site must
  originate from a SPF facility
• Testing schedule will continue every 6 months
• Total number of shrimp tested can be reduced to
  30 animals (Section 3.3 Testing for
  verification or maintenance of freedom from
  specific diseases Manual of Dx Tests for AA
  2006)
• Sampling regime includes all life stages on site
• SPF language added to health certification reports

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Industry/State Partnership Industry Costs

• True partners share both costs and benefits in a
  business relationship
• The shrimp producer in the SSCP is responsible
  for all the PCR testing fees
• SPF operations testing 30 shrimp for each of
  the 7 currently listed OIE diseases is
  972.00/sample set every 6 months or
  1944.00/year ( current University of Arizona
  Aquatic Pathology Laboratory prices)

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Industry/State Partnership IndustryCosts

• For New Farms or Export Status Farms working
  toward SPF Certification, the 60 animal sample
  set for each of the 7 currently listed OIE
  diseases must be followed
• The cost per sample set is 1944.00
• Year 1 with 4 sample sets (months 1, 3, 6, and
  12) is 7776.00
• Year 2 with 2 sample sets ( months 18 and 24) is
  3888.00

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Industry/State Partnership State Costs

• ADP-DP is responsible for all costs involved in
  ADP-DP staff traveling to each SSCP farm site for
  chain of custody documentation, both on Oahu and
  the outer islands airfare, rental car or state
  vehicle costs
• ADP-DP staff time is covered by HDOA budget
• ADP-DP provides all necessary vials, fixatives
  and collection instruments and covers shipping
  costs to UAZ-APL
• The ADP-DP/HDOA component of the SSCP is a 100
  Hawaii State funded program

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Future challenges/questions

• When to add emerging diseases to SSCP
• NHP Necrotizing hepatopancreatitis
• This disease is under study by OIE and likely
  to be listed in the future
• When to remove delisted diseases from the SSCP
  (BP and MBV). Many countries still require
  surveillance data on these two diseases for live
  shrimp imports