TARS 2025 highlights: Precision farming, sustainability, and the next generation of shrimp leaders

The 14th Aquaculture Roundtable Series (TARS) concluded successfully. A total of 284 participants, representing the shrimp supply chain in Asia, speakers, panelists, moderators, and industry leaders from 22 countries, attended the largest edition to date. This TARS on shrimp aquaculture centered around precision farming for higher productivity and profitability. It provided a platform to examine Asia’s shrimp industry at a critical turning point, marked by low prices, rising costs, frequent disease outbreaks, and poor success rates.

The program featured 10 sessions with 52 international and regional speakers, panelists and industry players who shared trends and insights.

Dr. Thitiporn Laoprasert, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Fisheries in Thailand, said: “It is imperative for farms and businesses to adopt smarter and more precise farm technologies to remain competitive. Today, we are seeing how data tools, AI and automation are transforming how we manage water quality, disease prevention and feed optimization.” Also, Laoprasert added: “At this TARS, let us harness the power of collaboration and innovation to navigate the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead and build a sustainable and prosperous industry together.”

TARS 2025 started with an assessment of the state of the global shrimp supply and demand. It explored how Asia can better respond to shifting market needs. Thailand’s Klomsuwan sisters shared data-driven approaches that boosted yields by 60%.

The key takeaways:

While the Asian model is not broken but misunderstood, excessive intensification raises disease risk and undermines long-term sustainability in Asia.
In Ecuador, vertical integration and process optimization deliver efficiency and resilience. It is also seen as transitioning from selling a product to meeting a need.
China is still considered a promising market for Asian producers, but current demand is shifting towards lower volumes and higher quality.
Consumers increasingly demand sustainability and traceable, consistent, premium-quality seafood with no soaking, and that are antibiotic-free. E-commerce is becoming a key market channel.
Success comes with adopting precision farming practices. Data-driven monitoring, strong biosecurity, and clear SOPs are critical to productivity and market alignment.

Additionally, the participants discussed how Ecuador’s shrimp industry is demonstrating how professionalism, investment, branding, and integration can drive sustainable growth, offering lessons in genetics, hatchery management, and production planning rather than serving as direct competition.

At Hard Talk, industry leaders highlighted Asia’s fragmented shrimp sector and contrasted it with Ecuador’s integrated model. Members agreed that small farmers are resilient during challenges and stressed that increased collaboration, with added value tailored to target markets, is necessary, rather than full integration.

Zuridah Merican, Chair of TARS and Editor of AquaCulture Asia Pacific, mentioned: “For the long-term sustainability of the industry, it is the second generation of farmers who are stepping up, forming strong peer networks to support one another and driving the transition from founder-led enterprises to modern, science-driven shrimp farming businesses.”

Second-generation shrimp business leaders, like Rizky Darmawan (Indonesia), Chodpipat Limlertwatee (Thailand), Hai Nguyen (Vietnam), and Mayank Sharma (India), showed how they are leading with science, technology, and resilience, ensuring continuity and growth for the industry.

The takeaways included:

Family business succession requires balancing respect for tradition with openness to innovation, where younger generations must earn trust to take calculated risks.
Integrated nursery systems present opportunities for efficiency but demand careful logistics, biosecurity, and seamless transfer protocols to avoid losses.
Black tiger shrimp farming can be profitable with product segmentation targeting larger sizes and disciplined farm protocols to mitigate disease risks.
Innovation and risk-taking should be framed as structured, data-driven pilots that complement existing practices, demonstrating value without undermining the stability of legacy operations.

The Interactive Roundtable Breakouts session focused on precision shrimp aquaculture and the new deal. In this sense, Merican added: “We cannot improve on what we cannot measure. Delegates co-developed metrics for precision shrimp farming, reinforcing TARS' hallmark of inclusive and solution-driven dialogue.”

The technical sessions provided the following takeaways:

Precision farming and production planning noted that genetics drives aproximately 50% of performance, but hatchery management and robust post larvae delivery determine field success. Science-based SPF breeding programs remain the standard in Asia compared to Ecuador’s APE advances. Nursery systems improve survival, inventory control, and profitability, but transfer logistics are critical. Integrated systems are proving viable in Vietnam.
Precision nutrition promoted the use of functional additives for gut health, immunity and health interventions. Awareness of the negative effects of mycotoxins and endotoxins in shrimp production is critical. In terms of feed sustainability. fishmeal replacement with the same performance at the same cost is the goal. Independence from the marine ingredients in feeds is achieved with non-animal-based sensory additives. Real-time monitoring and acoustic feeding show promise, but adoption varies by region and farm scale.
Disease mitigation and control of transparent post larvae disease (TPD) in Vietnam requires modular biosecurity to reduce spread and functional additives. Lessons on Vibrio control also led to functional additives to support gut health, microbiome and immune modulation. Early disease diagnostics, multi-pathogen management and lower stocking densities remain key to reducing disease risk.

The session highlighted how retail demands are shaping shrimp farming, emphasizing product provenance and health benefits. Ensuring post-harvest quality relies on strict time and temperature control and efficient supply chains. Sustainable feeds require lower crude protein with high digestibility, with Asia using more protein than Latin America. There is a big opportunity for growth with mathematical modelling to assess impacts of key factors, identifying solutions, formulating to reduce marine ingredients and eliminate marine oils, and more sustainable protein/energy levels.