Ceatech draining Kekaha ponds

Ceatech USA, Inc. officials are voluntarily draining all 48 of their shrimp ponds at Kekaha this week in an effort to completely eradicate the White Spot Syndrome Virus.

State Department of Agriculture officials ordered a quarantine of Ceatech’s shrimp Friday after the company officials voluntarily reported that some of their shrimp had tested positive for the virus earlier in the month.

According to a senior company official, more than 20 million shrimp will be killed over the next few days at the Kekaha plant, costing the company at least four months of growing time and anywhere between $1 million and $2 million in lost revenue.

“The full economic impact of this situation is currently under evaluation,” said Dr. Paul K. Bienfang, Ceatech’s senior vice president, from his office in Honolulu.

Bienfang said company officials weren’t sure how losses would affect Ceatech’s 40 or so employees, but were optimistic that they wouldn’t force Ceatech to close or move its Kaua‘i operation.

“As for employee losses, that’s also part of the economic evaluation,” he said. “Whatever the economic effects, we’re not likely to go off the table. We still believe that Kaua‘i’s Westside offers the best location for the future success of our operations.”

The virus — the outbreak is the first in the islands — is devastating to shrimp, and usually kills stocks within three days, according to Dr. James Foppoli, state DOA veterinarian.

“We really don’t know where this virus came from,” he said, “but we suspect it came from a seabird who had eaten infected food, then dropped it here.”

Foppoli praised Ceatech leaders for spotting the virus, self-reporting to state officials, and taking quick — if not exhaustive — eradication actions.

Foppoli was unaware that Ceatech leaders would drain all 48 of their pools, expecting that they would, instead, only drain those pools in which diseased shrimp were found.

Each drained pool could cost $50,000 in lost revenue, according to one senior Ceatech official based at the Kaua‘i plant.

Meanwhile, Foppoli insists that the virus isn’t dangerous to humans, even if diseased shrimp are consumed. It took 13 days before Ceatech’s shrimp were quarantined, during which time it is almost certain that some diseased shrimp made it to market, Foppoli said.

“It’s not a health concern, but more of a financial one for Ceatech,” Foppoli said.

The ponds will be drained and left vacant for about a month, after which time the sun should probably kill all traces of the virus, Foppoli said.

“We’ve been assured that the procedures we’ve followed will lead to the total eradication of the virus,” Bienfang said.

Landis Ignacio, vice president of operations, said he expects Ceatech officials to resume operations immediately after eradication efforts are approved by DOA leaders, and should be back to normal levels within four months. Shrimp can be harvested about three times per year, he said.

In the interim, officials at Ceatech’s Kekaha operation, which accounts for 22 percent of the world’s aquafarmed Pacific white shrimp, could lose market share to aquafarmers in Thailand and other Asian nations.

More than 60 percent of aquafarmed shrimp comes from Asia, where Thailand supplies 23 percent of world production. All of Ceatech’s shrimp is grown and processed on Kaua‘i, and the entire shrimp supply is consumed on the Mainland and overseas.

Since January 1998, Ceatech has marketed itself as a company that uses a unique, proprietary system that breeds and maintains specific, pathogen-free shrimp broodstock, the initial development stage from which shrimp are grown.

Business Editor Phil Hayworth may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or mailto:rhayworth@pulitzer.net.