SODACAL prawn farm which was set up as a pilot farm for the development of a prawn industry in New Caledonia, saw its production exponentially rise from 1984 to 1992 (to 400 t/year, then experienced a sharp drop in 1993 (250 t/year) which carried on until 1997, and finally rose back to a stabilizing level around 400 t/year until 1999. The study analyses the difficulties observed before and during the drop of production. Among them, mortality outbreaks, other biological perturbations (benthic mat clearing and crab and fish mortality) and focus on the noxious state of the bottom (reduced and smelling sulfide hydrogen). It particularly shows that Syndrome 93 outbreaks could be observed on this farm from 1990. The analysis highlights the particular climatic... |