Pig farmers seize shrimp opportunity

With prices of pork reaching record lows, pig farmers Paul and Tracy Cocchio were struggling to make a profit, so they started looking for alternative uses for their empty barns. While searching the internet they stumbled upon farmers in the US who had switched to inland shrimp farming and decided to give it a shot themselves.

Shrimp is the most consumed seafood in North America with the majority of the shrimp eaten on the continent sourced from Asia. But the Asian shrimp industry has become highly controversial, due to questionable labour practices and severe environmental pollution.

"Shrimp is in just about every restaurant and it's all imported. There are some Canadian harvests but they're small and these bigger shrimp are all imported. So we knew there was a good market," said Paul Cocchio.

The Cocchios converted one of their 60x12 metre hog barns into a tropical shrimp farm with 100% humidity and 16 tanks filled with 29 degree water, but creating their company First Ontario Shrimp hasn't been an easy process.

It took them three years to get Pacific white shrimp added to the list of species that can be farmed in the province and it took another three months to obtain an actual license to farm them. Another challenge was in keeping the juvenile shrimp alive.

"We thought, 'Oh, look at that: They're all hugging each other, swimming around.' And they're not. They're eating each other, they're hungry," said Paul.

All of the Pacific white shrimp they farm come from Florida by 24-hour express mail and are only about the size of an eyelash when they arrive.

"They send us about 20,000 at a time. So we put them in a starter tank, look after them for three to four weeks in that starter tank. Then they go into a finishing tank for about four to four and a half months to get them to the size that we're wanting," said Paul.

The facility has a very low environmental impact.

"There is no water that leaves this place. It's completely recirculating. There's no filters or anything. Basically the bacteria that's in the water is consuming the waste from the shrimp, the excess feed, all of that. And then when it flourishes the shrimp eat it," said Brad Cocchio, the couple’s son.

Closed shrimp farming is viewed as a much better alternative to open pond shrimp farming in Asia where feed, antibiotics, and any excess waste goes right back into the environment.

The Cocchio family is already changing the industry. After all of the challenges and steep learning curve, their farm is starting to have some success. They are harvesting almost 70 kg of fresh shrimp every week, but that's still not enough to keep up with the orders.

"Every day we have e-mails and phone calls wanting to know how they can get our shrimp. Our supply does not meet the demand," said Tracy Cocchio.

Several restaurants in the Toronto area have been purchasing their shrimp for months now. Once a week or so, the Cocchios harvest the shrimp in the morning and drive their fresh product to their customers that afternoon.

"You really do taste that extra little bit of freshness that only being a couple hours out of town makes," said Kevin Flaherty, who works at Honest Weight seafood restaurant and fish counter.

They often sell out of the Cocchios' product within a day. "Having shrimp right in our own back yard that we know are disease- and chemical-free is a real comfort for ourselves and of course for our customer base too."

Paul and Tracy Cocchio are pleased their idea many years ago to farm shrimp is finally paying off.

"Everything is a risk. If you don't take the risk you don't know," said Tracy Cocchio.