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Abstract:
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Shrimp Aquaculture has provided tremendous opportunity for the
economic and social upliftment of rural communities in the coastal areas of our
country Over a hundred thousand farmers, of whom about 90% belong to the
small and marginal category, are engaged in shrimp farming. Penaeus monodon is
the most predominant cultured species in India which is mainly exported to highly
sophisticated, quality and safety conscious world markets. Food safety has been of
concem to humankind since the dawn of history and the concern about food safety
resulted in the evolution of a cost effective, food safety assurance method, the
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP). Considering the major
contribution of cultured Penaeus monodon to the total shrimp production and the
economic losses encountered due to disease outbreak and also because traditional
methods of quality control and end point inspection cannot guarantee the safety of
our cultured seafood products, it is essential that science based preventive
approaches like HACCP and Pre requisite Programmes (PRP) be implemented in
our shrimp farming operations. PRP is considered as a support system which
provides a solid foundation for HACCP. The safety of postlarvae (PL) supplied
for brackish water shrimp farming has also become an issue of concern over the
past few years. The quality and safety of hatchery produced seeds have been
deteriorating and disease outbreaks have become very common in hatcheries. It is
in this context that the necessity for following strict quarantine measures with
standards and code of practices becomes significant. Though there were a lot of
hue and cry on the need for extending the focus of seafood safety assurance from
processing and exporting to the pre-harvest and hatchery rearing phases, an
experimental move in this direction has been rare or nil. An integrated
management system only can assure the effective control of the quality, hygiene
and safety related issues. This study therefore aims at designing a safety and
quality management system model for implementation in shrimp farming and
hatchery operations by linking the concepts of HACCP and PRP. |