06/28/2002

Farming Marine Shrimp in Inland Waters

Good things come in small packages–at least as far as consumer demand for shrimp is concerned. American consumption of shrimp has doubled in the last decade to some 1 billion pounds a year, making it the one of most popular seafood items in the United States.

The natural supply of shrimp in the ocean cannot keep up with this huge demand, so researchers at Auburn University are exploring new ways to commercially culture aquatic animals.

"Alabama has a rich resource of underground low salinity water that is not commonly used for agriculture and could be used to raise marine shrimp," said Allen Davis, Assistant Professor with the Auburn University Peaks of Excellence research initiative in the Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures. "However, many questions concerning the rearing of shrimp in these waters have not been addressed and published information on these unique environments is scarce."

A three-year project, in affiliation with Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant College Program, is underway in laboratories at Auburn, in ponds in Gulf Shores at the Claude Peteet Mariculture Center and in demonstration tanks on farms in west Alabama. These research projects are designed to assist farmers in solving production problems.

One of the first objectives of the project is to evaluate the underground water sources.

"We are looking at water sources and identifying some problems," said Davis. "Right now we're studying the ionic profile of the waters and try to figure out why some waters work very well and some do not."

Other research involves developing and studying the techniques for growing young shrimp in these particular waters.

"We have a lot of research that has been done on how to grow the shrimp and that has been important information to get to the farmers, but we do not know if the things we do in the nurseries translate into better production. We're probably the first researchers who have ever looked into that," he added.

Davis thinks there is the potential for the Alabama inland shrimp industry to one day develop into a $10 million industry.

"Actually this year's shrimp crop, which is in ponds in west Alabama right now, is doing a lot better than it was in the past," he commented. "So we think that we're on the right track in solving some of the problems and that the farmers may have a pretty good industry started."

Americans spend around $50 billion each year on seafood with the bulk of this spending going to shrimp, according to the National Fisheries Institute.

Other investigators involved with Davis in this Peaks of Excellence research initiative include David Rouse, Alumni Professor, and Claude Boyd, Butler/Cunningham Eminent Scholar, both of Auburn University's Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures.

The Peaks of Excellence program includes seven multi-disciplinary research areas selected for their strength and ability to address priority research and development needs for the state, region and the nation. Peaks of Excellence research programs include: Fisheries and Aquaculture; Cellular and Molecular Biosciences; Detection and Food Safety; Forest Sustainability; Information Technology; Poultry Products Safety and Quality; and Transportation.

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News from:

Office of Ag Communications & Marketing

Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 Comer Hall, Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)

Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu
Contact Leigh Hinton, 334-844-5886 or hintola@auburn.edu

June 2002