32 September 2009 Freshwater shrimp culture is alive and well in Texas Granvil Treece1 Research on freshwater shrimp in Texas was abandoned in the 1970s, but Craig Upstrom of Aquaculture of Texas, Inc., a freshwater prawn hatchery in Weatherford, apparently didn’t get the message and has developed a successful and sustainable enterprise. Aquaculture of Texas, Inc. has survived in a tough industry for 21 years. Craig manages and is the majority shareholder in the oldest and largest freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) hatchery in the USA. The hatchery is located in a 1,394 m2 metal building on Interstate Highway 20 just west of Fort Worth. The hatchery produces six million postlarval shrimp each spring. Craig says that it takes about $100,000 to pay the bills each year, but somehow it gets done. There have been two other prawn hatcheries built in the eastern USA recently, which have affected sales. The prawns are selling locally for about $17.60/kg after they are grown in outdoor ponds on several farms during summer months. Because he runs the hatchery himself, with a part-time assistant, Craig needs more time to work on genetics and developing a substitute larval diet to replace expensive Artemia. Dr. Delbert Gatlin, of Texas A&M University’s Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences Department plans to visit the hatchery and explore the possibility of placing some undergraduate interns in the hatchery durBrood holding area Craig Upstrom and adult freshwater prawns. Growout tank Macrobrachium hatchery ing the summer to work jointly on needed research. Our hats go off to Craig Upstrom for his hard work in this industry and we hope that he continues to find a niche to survive in this business another 21 years. More information is available on their web site: www.aquacultureoftexas.com. Notes 1Aquaculture Specialist, Texas Sea Grant College Program, 2700 Earl Rudder Frwy. South, Suite 1800, College Station, Texas 77845. Tel. (979) 845-7527 email: g-treece@neo.tamu.edu. Website: http://texas-sea-grant. tamu.edu.
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