Shrimp

Aquaculture is an important field in today’s world with the growing need for safe and sustainable food production. Bio-floc aquaculture is on the rise in the US and utilizes pacific white shrimp grown in barns or greenhouses. To examine this new technology, NH Sea Grant funded a demonstration project at the University of New Hampshire’s Jackson Estuarine Lab greenhouse. Here we are testing the productivity of a relatively small-scale system to determine the practicality of its use by farmers, fishermen or entrepreneurs.

Shrimp are raised in a land based, recirculating aquaculture system. They are grown in tanks or 10’ diameter swimming pools and aeration is used to the move bio-floc water through a filter. It takes 5 months for the shrimp to reach market size.  The final product is a superior quality shrimp, grown locally and distributed fresh, eliminating the need for chemical preservatives used in processing and shipping. The resulting taste and texture are markedly improved due to the sustainable farming practices and high-quality feed sources (Zeigler) employed by this production method.