Softshell Crab and Grouper Investments.

Yesterday and today news from local business news paper Business Times attract so much of my attention. The news not directly involved with grouper species, but since it involve with a move by a public listed company which seriously considering to invest in aquaculture industry, a kind of news that always being waited for by those who are involved in this field in Malaysia.

The news today is about the plan of Texchem Food Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Texchem Resources Bhd (TRB), whom has started laboratory-scale trials and experiments in the hatchery process of the mud crab. Texchem Food, which has been engaged in the seafood business for over three decades, is positioning itself as the world's largest processor and exporter of soft-shell crabs with access to a consistent supply of crabs in the region over over 100 tonnes per month. Yesterday, the company have signed a memorandum of agreement with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) to jointly study and do pilot-scale trials at the university's Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS) in Muka Head, Penang.

I like what being mentioned by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TRB, Tan Sri Fumihiko Konishi, who is mindful of the sustainability of natural resources and always ahead of the times with business trends, has not missed a beat in anticipating how an increasing market demand of soft-shell crabs will eventually stress the crab fishery. Everyone in seafood industry surely will agree Tan Sri Fumihiko on that remarkable note. The grouper fisheries have seen such pressure on some of the grouper species in Malaysia and all over the world and As I did mentioned in my earlier postings, I strongly believe that aquaculture could be the answer of this issue, should it being managed in a sustainable manner. 

Ability to produce fry from cultured animals should be the priority  for all of us in aquaculture industry. Dependency on wild broodstock have limitation and still giving some pressure to the natural stocks although almost unavoidable at early stage  of aquaculture industry development for certain species. For that matter, I take my hat off for TRB effort in developing a local in-house hatchery expertise for soft-shell crabs which aimed at acquiring the capability to produce crablets for further development.

Although I have seen softshell crab farming and crablet hatching since end of 20th century, the growth of that particular activity does not grow fast enough in this country. However, I must say there are already players who are producing this product in a relatively  serious mode but not yet at an industrial level. I hope the new effort by this TRB will boost the softshell crab farming to a higher level in Malaysia.

Another point in this two days news is the cooperation with the local research intitution, in this case USM. The initiation by both parties surely can ensure the potentials of crab farming and softshell crab production go beyond normal crab farming and fattening project. So much knowledge should be acquired and so much technical know-how must be perfected to ensure crab farming and softshell crab production achieve a sustainable level and eco-friendly to nature. Hopefully, other species such as groupers will get the same kind of attention from other PLCs and research institutes to push the aquaculture and fisheries industry into a new frontier. For those who are interested in softshell crab production, I recommend this book, Soft-shelled crab production: Options and opportunities for your reading.