Broodstock customer from China shines with Kona Bay products

Zhuhai Yiyang Ecological Agriculture Technology Co., Ltd. is headquartered in Zhuhai, a city with beautiful scenery and ideal conditions for broodstock shrimp. Currently, the company operates multiple cooperative pilot farms in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin, among others. Their operations operate ponds at nearly 5000 cubic meters and produce about 8 billion nauplii per year. They cultivate nearly 4 billion post larvae, which are sold in markets across the country.

Can you tell us a little bit about Zhuhai Yiyang?

Zhuhai Yiyang is committed to their philosophy of high quality, technological innovation, honest operations, and customer service, and has built a complete maturation and hatchery system. Zhuhai Yiyang also has ten breeding demonstration sites covering an area of around 800 hectares. Yiyang's culture modes include the intensive pond culture mode, the small shed culture mode, the high-density culture mode in high-level tanks and the factory culture mode. Results from different culture modes are the best way to judge larval performance (genetics).

How long have you been using Kona Bay products?

Nearly half a year.

What are the benefits have you seen from using Kona Bay products?

Kona Bay shrimp have demonstrated high disease resistance, fast growth and high survival rates.

What does the future hold for co-operation between Yiyang and Kona Bay?

Together we plan to operate a Demo farm, set up sentinel sites*, collaborate on management practices to unlock the full genetic potential.

*Sentinel sites are used to measure the performance of our genetics within the typical conditions of a commercial farm. These sites are very important in analyzing how our products will perform under local conditions of our customers.

What are the challenges of running a hatchery?

Hatchery performance can be constrained by genetics. We see improved performance of the nauplii when they have been adapted to local conditions. These nauplii then grow into high quality post larvae.

The management of nauplii, the quality of water, feed, and levels of disease regulation are all relevant in the quality of the final product. The farming system, biosecurity and laborers are also key factors. Yiyang wants to proactively identify problems and actively optimize its farming processes.

What advice could you give to other hatcheries who may face similar challenges?

For issues with mismatched nauplii, I’d like to say precise matching with dynamic adjustment. It is important to refine the nauplii process management and get more interaction with your customers.

To maintain high quality, there are a few good practices:

• Good on-farm biosecurity within nutritional enrichment
• Keeping the quality of nauplii and define the level of quality control because some companies do not use the process of dumping larvae.
• The hatchery should increase protocols to control of the quality of the nauplii.

If running a demo farm, make sure there is a clear process. The help of a partner like Kona Bay is also important to achieve your goals.