PROTOCOLS AND MARKET OPPORTUNITIES FOR SHIPPING LIVE SHRIMP IN WATERLESS CONDITIONS  

In 2014, the US imported over 567,000 metric tons of shrimp, accounting for 33% of US seafood imports and over 90% of shrimp consumed domestically. Imports continue to outpace domestic production due to depressed market value of frozen shrimp and significantly higher domestic production costs. As shrimp is the highest consumed seafood product in the US, market dynamics as well as supply and value chains hold significant interest for the development of domestic supply modalities. Although technical feasibility of pond and recirculating technologies is well established, marketability in the face of Asian and Latin American suppliers is challenging; and even as investment in new enterprises persist, scope for growth is limited by economies of scale or niche market penetration. Niche markets provide the means for domestic farmers to supply a fresher or live product to the marketplace that is not feasible by import methods; these markets furnish higher premiums which can satisfy economic viability for a domestic farmer. However, the cost of hauling or shipping live animals in water can be cost prohibitive given the high proportion of those shipping costs to the water itself.

Live shipping of shrimp out of water can forgo the extreme expenses of shipping in water. Further rounds of development and experimentation with handling and shipping protocols for freshwater prawns (M. rosenbergii) and marine shrimp (L. vannamei) were performed in simulated and real-world conditions. Post-harvest shipping involves (1) anesthetization, followed by (2) packing in chilled, moist packing material, (3) shipping of shrimp in bags with pure oxygen and moist packing material, and (4) receiving. Parameters investigated for marine shrimp included anesthetization rate, incubation temperature, number of shrimp per bag volume, and incubation time. Prior work will be reviewed; no significant differences in survival rates were found for anesthetization rates up to and including -10 degrees Celsius per hour, optimum incubation temperatures for survival were found to be 15 degrees Celsius, while the number of shrimp per bag was found to be negatively correlated with survival. The latter finding was further investigated by tracking oxygen consumption and CO2 production in the inflated bags over 24 hours, linear trends with temperature and time were observed. Re-acclimation rates between 10-15 degrees Celsius per hour provided survival rates similar to slower rates. Shipment trials for freshwater prawns under similar conditions were performed; similar results were observed to the marine shrimp, however much more sensitive to lower incubation temperatures and did not exhibit favorable survival below 15 degrees Celsius.

Market surveys were performed in New York City and Atlanta, GA to gather data on consumer and merchant demand, product preference, as well as current supply chains for live, waterless shipping of shrimp. Several shipments of marine shrimp were placed to New York City, where temperatures and survival were logged. Survey and shipping findings, as well as lessons learned will be presented.