SPECIAL TOPIC IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRY SCIENCE

ACADEMIC TALK REPORT OF BLUE ARCHIPELAGO BERHAD

• WAN MAISARAH BINTI WAN ZAMRI

INTRODUCTION

A leading shrimp aquaculture company named Blue Archipelago Berhad (BAB) is a subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the strategic investment arm of the government of Malaysia. The establishment of this company was since 2010. The company is focused on the production of premium quality seafood for the global market. The business is built based on the high quality standards, food safety, ecological sustainability and social responsibility. Their ultimate aim is to develop a Malaysian seafood brand that is associated with wholesomeness and integrity.

Currently, BAB operates two farms, iKERPAN (Integrated Kerpan) in Kedah and iSHARP (Integrated Shrimp Aquaculture Park) in Setiu. The existing of iKERPAN and iSHARP are able to increase productivity thus increasing the market share of Blue Archipelago Berhad.

BAB is the first in Malaysia implementing SAP Business All-in-One and SAP Business Objects Edge Standard Solutions to optimize their operations. High-tech solutions are vital as they aim to be the market leader in the region focusing the business internationally while maintaining high quality food and ecological sustainability.

Along with the business expansion, BAB is committed in giving back to society. They have established Blue Archipelago Community Alliance (BACA) and Certificate in Shrimp Aquaculture (CISA) that aims to educate the human capital.

The vision, misson, and values of Blue Archipelago Berhad include :

Vision

We aim to be a world-class seafood company.

Mission

• We are committed to be an ethical organization that practices transparency in business dealings; striving for commercial and environmental sustainability and practicing corporate responsibility.
• We undertake to set the highest standards in food safety, quality, service, reliability and cost efficiency of our operations.
• We are determined to be market-driven and to meet our customers’ requirements effectively.
• We pledge to provide a dynamic and challenging environment for our employees and to build long term relationships with everyone associated with us.

Values

• Passion
• We put our heart and mind in our work to deliver the best value to all our stakeholders.
• Reliable We providetimely, accurate and cost effective products and services.
• Empowerment We empower our employees to take positive initiatives, to do what is right and to give their best atall times.
• Accountability We are fully responsible for our decisions and actions that influence our business operations and the impact it has to our stakeholders.
• Respect We give due respect to all and maintain the environment of team work, growth and mutual benefit.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

According to Mr. Nazrul Fadhli, the Human Resource Manager of Blue Archipelago Berhad, there were challenges in conducting shrimp aquaculture. The main challenge was diseases. White spot and yellow spot were the common diseases occur to shrimp. White spot disease has been infected the shrimp in BAB after three years establishment of BAB. A disease called early mortality syndrome (EMS) was and extraordinary disease but iSHARP BAB was free from this disease. The diseases that occur to the shrimp may decrease the production until 60%. The major factor of disease was the source of water and disease also could come from human error.

Next challenge was the cost. Shrimp aquaculture farming really need high cost. Mr. Nazrul Fadhli added, the shrimp named Penaeus monodon, the giant tiger prawn or Asian tiger shrimp was costly but they were long-term culture period, easy to get diseases, low survival and bigger size. But Blue Archipelago Berhad has vannamei shrimp. BAB has been expending RM 200 million to buy the land in order to built the whole BAB include the 190 ponds in Kedah.

To ensure that our shrimp product is safe, high quality and sustainable, we need to get certifications from accredited bodies in aquaculture practices. As BAB, their facilities had received certifications of Best Aquaculture Practices and certificates by Global Aquaculture Alliance, Hazardous Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) and EU number certification from Ministry of Health MALAYSIA. In addition, iKERPAN also has been accorded certification by Department of Fisheries, the competent authority in Malaysia to export shrimps to EU countries.

In order to produce premium shrimp, they had practice 4-starproduct traceability. From hatchery to processing, stringent bio-security standards are adopted in BAB to maintain peak quality and ensure excellent traceability. The level of the biosecurity can be classified into two; level A and level B. For level A, we were not allowed to enter the farm within 48 hours whereas level B cannot enter within 24 hours.

BAB also practices full strength seawater culture for tastier shrimp. The water was channelled into the farm by a 2.8 km seawater system and discharged to the river after a series of retention and treatment ponds ensuring the local environment remains unaffected. Fully lined ponds and ideal weather conditions were also has been performed by BAB. Malaysia’s tropical climate allows for continuous shrimp farming. This is an advantage as they can practice staggered stocking and carry our harvesting plans for their live shrimps. These factors were vital in delivering consistent yield, size and quality in produce besides allowing for more production cycles per pond. It also ensures that the shrimp colour is dark.

Besides that, they were stressed on the rules and regulations in shrimp farming. One of the rules includes traceability of the shrimp such as halal, HACCP and EU approval since shrimp is consumed by human. BAB products has been accorded with HALAL, HACCP and EU certification marking their commitment to produce 100% safe, high quality shrimps that meet stringent global standards. The shrimp also should be traced the feed being fed and should know whether there are chemicals or not. As BAB, they applied 100% no antibiotics and hormones to the shrimp. By practicing this, not only were they safe for consumption, the high quality water also enhances their taste and the farming techniques preserve their natural texture. Other than that, in shrimp farming rules, we also cannot simply discharge water into sea because it can case water pollution.

Next, we also learned about farm management. The way to manage the farm includes be in control, for instance, BAB use automatic system of paddle wheel which serves as aeration and to supply oxygen to the shrimp. They also establish monitoring centre to monitor the condition of their shrimp farm and the activities performed by their workers. More advanced, they have sonic sensor to detect when the shrimps need feed.

CONCLUSION

In a nutshell, we had learned a lot of things from Blue Archipelago Berhad particularly in shrimp farming. Blue Archipelago Berhad is definitely a great shrimp aquaculture company that can be emulated. Moreover, since we are Animal Husbandry Science student, we able to apply those knowledgeable information in the future. Hopefully, there will be other academic talk that can give benefits to Animal Husbandry Science students in the future.

REFRENCES

Blue Achipelago. Available at: http://www.bluearchipelago.com/. [Accessed at: 31May 2015].