South Carolina organic experiment shrimp farm
USA: The driving force behind the Pritchardville, SC, shrimp farm is to compete with imported shrimp while at the same time being organic. At this point the farm is an experimental project.
Waddell Mariculture Center in Bluffton is mentoring the Pritchardville farm. Waddell is a SC Department of Natural Resources marine research facility. They received a USD 435,000 federal grant two years ago which is paying for the research and shrimp farming project.
One of the main differences between this shrimp farm and other farms is the feed they use. Fish meal based feed is most commonly used, but the Pritchardville farm is using an organic diet of algae oils, soybean and wheat products, vitamins and amino acids.
It is expected that the organic feed will give growers an advantage over imported product. The South Carolina shrimp will compete on quality, being local, fresh and healthy.
The Waddell research facility has been researching the diet for two years and developed the experimental feed. The farm will use the most commonly farmed shrimp species, the Pacific white shrimp.
The shrimp were put into the water earlier this month and are expected to reach about ten centimeters by the time they are ready for sale sometime mid fall. They expect to harvest almost 1,400 kilos.
