This article was featured in Eurofish Magazine 4 2026.
The World Aquaculture Society (WAS) conference was held on 2-5 June in Singapore. As an aquaculture event and one being held in Asia, many interventions were dedicated to shrimp farming.
Prior to the main conference on 2 June, WAS organized several well-attended tours to various farms, universities and research facilities in Singapore. Two of the authors had the opportunity to visit the Marine Aquaculture Centre on
St. John’s Island. The tour was exceptionally well organized and structured, showcasing some of the excellent research conducted in Singapore on Asian seabass. This included work on broodstock rearing, selective breeding for faster growth, and larval rearing using rotifers and Artemia as live feed.
A fully operational feed production facility for manufacturing extruded aquafeed was also presented. This facility provides opportunities to initiate research on alternative ingredients and to evaluate their nutritional effects on fish and shrimp. On the first official day of the conference and trade show, proceedings opened with a welcome speech, honorary awards, and a keynote presentation. The opening address was delivered by Dr Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State at the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment of Singapore.
Keynote speech shows how tariffs affect seafood flows to the US
This year’s keynote speaker was Richard Barry, Director of Programs at the National Fisheries Institute, a non-profit in the US dedicated to education about seafood safety, trade, sustainability, and nutrition. His presentation, titled “U.S. Seafood Market—Sourcing Dynamics and Consumer Behavior in a Tariff Trade Environment,” offered valuable insights into how import tariffs have affected seafood trade flows in the United States. For example, shrimp import patterns have shifted, with other countries replacing China, which was previously the dominant supplier. Another key point was that seafood prices in the United States are now comparable to those of beef. As a result, when tariffs increase seafood prices, consumers tend to switch to more affordable food options due to financial constraints.
As the event was held in Asia, there was a natural emphasis on shrimp aquaculture. Numerous presentations covered production methods and systems, nutrition and feed development, as well as disease control and health management. Key takeaways from the shrimp aquaculture sessions included the increasing intensification of pond-based systems and the growing implementation of advanced water treatment technologies. The primary focus is now on whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), whereas 20 years ago it was giant tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon) that received the most attention. According to FAO statistics, in 2003 global production of whiteleg shrimp shot ahead of that of giant tiger prawn. Its lead has only widened since then, as output of the latter has been largely stagnant. As a result, presentations on giant tiger prawn are relatively rare today.
Secondary value streams and zero emissions are increasingly important
In addition, there is a growing focus on clean recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) for shrimp production, particularly in Europe. Interestingly, shrimp farming in Europe has gradually expanded over the past decade, although it remains at an early stage compared to other aquaculture sectors. Another take home message from the European aquaculture presentations was a focus on developing new methods, including microalgae reactors, membrane filters, and biofloc as parts of the production systems. Creating secondary value streams for the production facilities, and a focus on zero emission systems were also among the topics discussed. A few talks covered interesting species like abalone, sea urchins and octopus, as emergent species in intensive aquaculture.
Fish aquaculture talks showcased recent advances in the application of selective breeding approaches to accelerate genetic improvement of commercially important traits, including growth performance and disease resistance. Furthermore, several studies demonstrated how molecular insights are improving the development and optimisation of vaccines, contributing to more targeted and effective disease prevention strategies in aquaculture production systems. Presentations on disease diagnosis focused on the development and application of rapid, sensitive, and high-throughput molecular tools for pathogen detection, surveillance, and epidemiological investigations. Several studies demonstrated the use of environmental nucleic acids-driven quantitative PCR to improve early disease detection and monitoring.
E-poster sessions are no substitute for the real thing
The poster sessions were organized in an e-poster format. The concept involved setting up several stations where conference attendees could sit and browse through the posters. In the authors’ opinion, this format worked poorly, and posters in general did not receive much attention. This aspect needs to be improved, as poster presentations are often the first opportunity for young scientists to present their work and so should provide a positive experience. It also appeared that there was some confusion among poster presenters, including among the authors, regarding when and what was expected of them. A more traditional poster session format—potentially combined with light refreshments served in the poster area—might encourage better engagement and interaction.
Another issue during the conference was the high number of speakers who did not attend their scheduled presentations. During the first two days, this disrupted the flow of the programme, but on the third day it significantly affected the conference, with only around 20% of speakers attending. This is likely not a problem unique to WAS, as similar patterns were observed on the final day of the joint EAS and WAS meeting in Copenhagen in 2024, although not to the same extent. It is a serious concern, but it is expected that the WAS board is aware of the issue and will address it in future conferences.
Asst. Prof. Per Meyer Jepsen, Roskilde University, Denmark; Asst. Prof. Louise von Gersdorff Jørgensen, Asst. Prof. Moonika Marana, PhD students Hannah Malene Jensen and Lasse Polke-Pedersen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
