Gulf Coast Research Laboratory Shrimp Harvest Pushes Aquaculture Industry Forward

[Newsguy]

OCEAN SPRINGS -- “Who wouldn’t want larger, fresh shrimp?” said Dr. Jeffrey M. Lotz as more than 500 pounds of 20-25 count Mississippi-grown shrimp cascaded down a raceway into a mesh basket below. Lotz, director of marine aquaculture at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs, was enthusiastic about GCRL’s first harvest of saltwater shrimp since Hurricane Katrina. By Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 13), GCRL personnel had harvested more than 2,600 pounds of shrimp from five of the 12-100-foot raceways in an experimental indoor, commercial-scale, grow-out facility at the GCRL’s Cedar Point expansion site. On Thursday the program's personnel harvested juvenile shrimp raised in two of the 100-foot tanks and redistributed them in all 12 raceways, giving the juveniles room to grow.Lotz said growth rates have been steady and survival good in this pilot grow-out.He said the numbers show that the indoor, low-water systems used only 20 gallons of water to produce one pound of shrimp. Lotz compared that to about 250 gallons of water needed to yield one pound of pond-raised shrimp. The 18,800-square-foot structure is the largest commercial-scale research and development facility for shrimp grow-out in the United States and includes the raceways with about one acre under cover. Researchers are looking to the experimental indoor production to help increase profitability. Lotz said the system is environmentally friendly, and it uses less land and water and increases the potential for three harvests per year as opposed to one. “Our research is focused on developing the industry for supplying fresh U.S.-grown saltwater shrimp for niche markets,” Dr. Lotz said. “GCRL researchers are leaders in developing technology for indoor, low-water-use production systems for aquaculture of saltwater shrimp. They are developing methods for environmentally sustainable and financially sound production of large-sized shrimp for upscale restaurants. The GCRL will also conduct commercial-scale demonstration and pilot projects for industry.The stakes are high.“The U.S. trade deficit in shrimp is about $4 billion annually, money that is leaving the United States which could be spent here at home,” Lotz said.The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory is a unit of the university's School of Ocean and Earth Sciences in the College of Science and Technology. Southern Miss graduate student James Ballard pours freshly harvested shrimp into a sorting tray at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory’s commercial-scale aquaculture facility in Ocean Springs Tuesday. (Photo by Diana Reid)University of Southern Mississippi graduate student James Ballard, left, and technicial Casey Nicholson sweep tanks clear during the first post-Katrina harvest in a shrimp-farming experiment at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory’s commercial-scale aquaculture facility in Ocean Springs Tuesday, Sept. 12. (Photo by Diana Reid)

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