August 12, 2010

US research lab fetches record shrimp yield

The 3,000 pounds of saltwater shrimp harvested Tuesday (Aug 10) from an aquaculture project at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL)'s Cedar Point site, were the largest crop since the programme began about three decades ago.

"Right now, it probably costs about five dollars a pound to produce these shrimp, and we're trying to get that down lower. And the way we do that is faster growth rate and higher densities," said Jeff Lotz, chairman of the University of Southern Mississippi Department of Coast Sciences and director of the Cochran Aquaculture Centre.

The programme aims to harvest about 500 pounds of shrimp per tank every 13 weeks, which is the minimal production for a commercial facility, he added.

Among the selling points for the farm-raised shrimp are they are fresh and extensively tested compared to minimal tests of imported shrimp, he said.

The US pays about $4 billion for imported shrimp and a domestic aquaculture product could cut into that trade deficit, according to Lotz.

The research into shrimp aquaculture began in the 1980s utilising ponds, but diseases were a problem. The solution to disease was the indoor, closed biosecure system that has been developed at GCRL, the largest commercial-scale shrimp farm R&D centre in the US, he added.