April 13, 2006

 

Organic shrimp farm in US pioneers new way of shrimp farming

 

 

With its fifth successful harvest, the Waddell Mariculture Centre in the US state of South Carolina aims to become the new model for the future of shrimp farming.

 

The state-owned mariculture centre has been testing shrimp-farming techniques since 2003 and it says the model it is developing is capable of producing about 48,000 pounds of shrimp an acre.

 

In a closed-loop system housed in greenhouses, the technology allows year-round production of chemical- and drug-free jumbo shrimp, yielding up to four harvests a year. A new crop takes between two to four months to mature, depending on the size of shrimp.

 

As required by federal law, the mariculture centre uses no hormones or antibiotics and is working to gain organic certification through the USDA

 

As the biosecure mariculture centre continues to improve on its shrimp-farming technology, commercial interest is increasing. The centre hopes to expand through research partnerships and licensing possibilities.

 

It is working with the University of South Carolina's Intellectual Property Office to explore ways to involve companies in the technology.

 

Commercial partnerships could help the centre fund more research through licensing fees and make it easier to register patents on the technology, said Lisa Rooney, the director of the USC Intellectual Property Office.

 

The main purpose would be to get research out of the mariculture centre into the commercial marketplace, Rooney said.

 

Craig Browdy, a senior marine specialist with the state Department of Natural Resources, said the primary objective of the centre is to develop quality seafood that can compete directly with imports without damaging the environment.

 

The mass influx of imported shrimp in recent years has resulted in falling shrimp prices. Some studies have found traces of hormones and antibiotics in imported farm-raised shrimp.