Shrimp Farming at "Aquaculture 2007"
World Aquaculture Society Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, USA
February 26 through March 2, 2007
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United States Marine Shrimp Farming Program
Info on Aquaculture in Texas
Bio-Floc Session
Feed Short Course
Shrimp Farming in Texas--Map and Statistics
Texas Farm Leases Ponds
Texas Farm Sells Shrimp Online
The History of Shrimp Farming in West Texas
Trade Show Exhibitors
United States Marine Shrimp Farming Program
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The United States Marine Shrimp Farming Program (USMSFP) will sponsor the shrimp sessions at "Aquaculture 2007", a World Aquaculture Society meeting scheduled for February 26 through March 2, 2007, in San Antonio, Texas. In addition to sponsoring the shrimp sessions, Anthony Ostrowski, Ph.D., director of USMSFP, said USMSFP will host a special reception for the United States marine shrimp farming industry that will encourage one-on-one contact with program scientists.
Information: Anthony Ostrowski, The Oceanic Institute, 41-202 Kalanianaole Highway, Waimanalo, HI 96795 USA (phone 808-259-3109, fax 808-259-3121, email aostrowski@oceanicinstitute.org, webpage www.oceanicinstitute.org).
Source: Industry Briefs (The newsletter of the United States Marine Shrimp Farming Program). Paula Bender, Editor and Webmaster (pbender@oceanicinstitute.org). See you at WAS Aquaculture 2007--Science for Sustainable Aquaculture. V-12, N-4, P-7, October 2006.
Information on Aquaculture in Texas
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If you're looking for information on "Aquaculture 2007", the World Aquaculture Society meeting that's scheduled for February 26 to March 2, 2007, in San Antonio, Texas, go the Society's conference page at http://www.was.org/meetings/ConferenceInfo.asp?MeetingCode=AQ2007.
If you're looking for information on San Antonio or aquaculture in Texas, go to the Texas Aquaculture Association's webpage at http://www.texasaquaculture.org/index.html.
Information: John Cooksey, World Aquaculture Conference Management, P.O. Box 2302, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA (phone 760-751-5005, fax 760-751-5003, email worldaqua@aol.com, webpage, www.was.org).
Sources: 1. World Aquaculture Society Website. December 6, 2006. 2. Texas Aquaculture Association Website. December 6, 2006.
Tentative Program for the Bio-Floc Session
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At the World Aquaculture Society Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA (February 15, 2006), a special, all-day session brought people from around the world together to discuss bio-floc shrimp farming. They formed a working group within WAS to facilitate communications among interested parties, gave the technology its name--"bio-floc" aquaculture--and established a home for the group at the Agricultural Engineering Society's website (http://www.aesweb.org/starter.htm, click on Bio-Floc Workgroup in the left hand column).
Dr. Yoram Avnimelech has taken the lead in the bio-floc aquaculture movement. Yoram is head of the Sea of Galilee Water Shed Research Unit (Israel), Chief Scientist of the Israeli Ministry of the Environment, and Dean of the Department of Agricultural Engineering at Technion (the Israel Institute of Technology), where he holds the Samuel Gorney Chair. He has done consulting work in Israel, the United States, South America, Australia and Thailand and has been a visiting professor in various countries, including Belgium, the United States, Australia and the Netherlands. He has published more than a hundred papers in refereed journals, edited four books and trained many graduate students.
Yoram is putting together the program for the bio-floc session at the WAS meeting in San Antonio, Texas, USA, scheduled for Wednesday, February 28, 2007. Here's the tentative program. Both the morning and afternoon sessions will be followed by discussions.
Morning Session Chairman: Yoram Acnimelech
Management of Nitrogen Cycling and Microbial Populations in BioFloc-Based Aquaculture Systems (Peter Van Wyk and Yoram Avnimelech)
Roselien Crab Added Value of Microbial Life in Flocs (Willy Verstraete, P. De Schryver and Tom Defoirdt)
Fish Waste Management by Conversion into Heterotrophic Bacteria Biomass (Oliver Schneider, Vasiliki Sereti, E.H. Eding and Johan Verreth)
Impact of Carbon/Nitrogen Balance and Modeling of the Nitrogen Removal Processes in Microbial-Based Aquaculture Systems (James M. Ebeling and Michael B. Timmons)
Afternoon Session Chairman: Greg Boardman
Biological Treatment of Wastewaters to Generate Microbial Flocs for Shrimp Culture D.D. Kuhn, G.D. Boardman, S.R. Craig, E. McLean and G.J. Flick)
Utilization of Bacterial Floc Single Cell Proteins in Feeds for African Catfish and Tilapia (Eric De Muylder)
Effect of Solids Concentration on Performance of Indoor Bio-Floc Mesocosms (John A. Hargreaves and David Wong)
Algal/Bacterial Sedimentation, Degradation and Denitrification Rates in Suspended Culture Aquaculture Systems (David Brune)
Bio-Floc Dynamics in Super-intensive Shrimp Raceways: The Good the Bad and the Ugly (John Leffler, Heidi Atwood, Brad McAbee, Patrick Brown, Steve Morton, Susan Wilde and Craig Browdy)
Production of Marketable Size Penaeus vannamei in Greenhouse-Enclosed Raceways Operated with Limited Water Discharge (John J. Austin, Tzachi M. Samocha, Susmita Patnaik, Tim C. Morris and Yin Yiu)
Growth and welfare of nile tilapia oreochromis niloticus cultured in indoor tanks using activated suspension technique (AST) (M. Ekram Azim, David C. Little and Ben P. North)
Probiotic Effects of Bio-Floc Technology (Yoram Avnimelech and I. Bezerano)
Information: Yoram Avnimelech, Professor (Emeritus), Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Haifa, 32000 Israel (phone 972-3-7522406, fax 972-3-6131669, email agyoram@tx.technion.ac.il).
Information: John Cooksey, World Aquaculture Conference Management, P.O. Box 2302, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA (phone 760-751-5005, fax 760-751-5003, email worldaqua@aol.com, webpage www.was.org).
Source: Email and attachments from Yoram Avnimelech on November 8, 2006.
Feed Short Course
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For the two days (February 25-26, 2007) preceeding "Aquaculture 2007" (February 27 to March 2, 2007) in San Antonio, Texas, USA, a practical short course titled "Aquaculture Feed Extrusion, Nutrition and Feed Formulation" has been scheduled. It is a course for new feed mill personnel.
Attendees of the feed short course will receive a complimentary pass to the "Aquaculture 2007" Trade Show and can register for "Aquaculture 2007" at the World Aquaculture Society member rate.
Feed Short Course Program
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Current and Future Market Trends in Aquaculture Feed (Peter Coutteau)
Introduction to Extrusion Technology (Joseph Kearns)
Feed Preparation Technology (Christoph Naef)
Grinding Aquatic Feeds (Mark Heimann)
Feed Pelletization (Mark Heimann)
Drying Aquafeed (Tom Barber)
Feed Short Course Program
Monday, February 26, 2007
Latest Technologies in Absorption Coating by Vacuum (Josef W. Barbi)
Feed Coating and Micro Encapsulation (Jacques C. Wijnoogst)
Production of Feeds for Shrimp (Eric De Muylder)
Environmental Issues: Noise and Odor Control (Jacques C. Wijnoogst)
Applications of Soy Protein Concentrates in Aquafeed (Don Lindsey)
High Fat Extrusion for Aquafeed (Joseph Kearns)
Aquatic Feed Extrusion: Applications of Twin Screw Extruders (Joseph Kearns)
Aqua Feed Quality Control: Chemical and Microbiological Aspects (Els Vanden Berge)
New Extrusion Technology with Online Control of Product Density and Specific Mechanical Energy Input (Christoph Naef)
Aqua Feed Quality: Lipid Oxidation and Palatability (Fernando Valdez)
Aquaculture Feeds: Technologies and Products (Alain Brisset)
Utilization of Soybean Meal in Both Freshwater and Marine Fish Feed Development (Michael Cremer)
Hygienic Feed Preparation--HACCP and GMP (Fernando Valdez)
U.S. Soy Industry's Support to Global Aquaculture: Research and Field Oriented Projects (Michael Cremer)
Registration Fee: Before January 25, 2007, $795; after January 25, 2007, $895. Rate includes short course manuals, lunch and coffee breaks.
Information: Dr. Sefa Koseoglu, President, Extraction and Refining Program Filtration and Membrane World LLC, 603 Southwest Parkway, Unit 23 College Station, Texas 77840 USA (phone 979-764-8360, fax 979-694-7031, email sefa@koseoglu.com, webpage www.membraneworld.com).
Information: Dr. Ignace Debruyne, ID&A, Haverhuisstraat 28, B-8870 Izegem, Belgium (phone 32-(0)51-31-12-74, mobile 32-(0)476-46-07-98, fax 32-(0)51-31-56-75, email aquafeed@scarlet.be).
Source: Aquafind. Aquafind Events Calendar (http://www.aquafind.com/info/calendar.php). 5th Practical Short Course on Aquaculture Feed Extrusion, Nutrition and Feed Formulation. Site visit on January 3, 2007.
Shrimp Farming in Texas--Map and Stats
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Production in Texas in 2006*
Stocked
Harvested
Harvested
Percent
StockedArroyo AquacultureAssociation
(many owners)Auswell Aqua Farm Bowers Shrimp Farm Bowers Valley Shrimp , Inc. Harlingen Shrimp Farm Junior Aquaculture Farm Mengers & Sons Farm Permian Sea Organics (estimate from 2005)** Southern Star, Inc. St. Martin's Seafood TAES Flour Bluff (Bait Shrimp R&D) Texas Seabreeze Shrimp Co. * Source of Data: Dr. Ya-Sheng Juan, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Brownsville, Texas ** Permian Sea Organics' 2006 production could not be obtained, estimate not confirmed.
Information: Granvil Treece, Aquaculture Specialist, Texas A&M University, Sea Grant College Program, 2700 Earl Rudder Freeway South, Suite 1800, College Station, Texas 77845 USA (phone 979-845-7527, fax 979-845-7525, email g-treece@neo.tamu.edu, website http://texas-sea-grant.tamu.edu).
Texas Farm Leases Ponds
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On December 11, 2006, I chatted with Bing Hung, president of Southern Star, Inc., formerly Hung Shrimp Farms, who said, "We're developing the first privately owned industrial park for aquaculture in the United States."
Southern Star has 63 ten-acre ponds and 94 five-acre ponds that it leases to aquaculturists. Right now all the ten-acre ponds are leased, but more than 50 of the five-acre ponds are available. Southern Star supplies the pond, water and discharge permit; and the tenant supplies seedstock, feed, equipment and labor. Tenants also pay their own energy bills. Hung encourages commercial ventures, but says his ponds also provide a good place to test products (like feeds, probiotics and aeration equipment), to do research, or to just test an idea.
Shrimp News: Do you lease any other facilities?
Bing Hung: Yes, we have 16 concrete ponds measuring 50 feet by 65 feet by 4 feet deep and 12 concrete ponds measuring 75 feet by 100 feet by 5 feet deep. In addition to that, we have 40,800 square feet of greenhouse space with a concrete floor that can be used for hatcheries.
Shrimp News: What is the source of your water?
Bing Hung: The Arroyo Colorado River, only four nautical miles upstream from the hyper saline Laguna Madre Bay. Our average salinity is around 5 to 15 parts per thousand and the water is rich in algae.
Shrimp News: Is farm labor available?
Bing Hung: Yes, we can get unlimited labor from Mexico at an average rate of $5.15 an hour. The State of Texas might raise this to $6.00 an hour soon.
Shrimp News: Is shrimp feed available?
Bing Hung: Yes, four big feed companies, Nutrena, Burris, Rangen and Zeigler Brothers deliver weekly or daily.
Shrimp News: How long do the leases run?
Bing Hung: For at least three years, beginning in January and ending in December.
Shrimp News: How much do you charge for a one-year lease on a five-acre pond?
Bing Hung: $5,000, plus $1,000 for the water assessment fee (a fuel charge for pumping water).
Shrimp News: What are the advantages of your site?
Bing Hung: It's in southern Texas, which has one of the best climates for growing fish and shrimp in the United States. Shrimp can be grown from March through November and fish all year long. There are three shrimp processing plants within thirty minutes. We own a nearby shrimp hatchery. We also have a very important water discharge permit. It's difficult to get new discharge water permits in Texas, especially at our location. We have 200-acre wetland to recycle waste water; our tenants don't have to worry about any water discharge issues. We take care of that.
An entrepreneur can start with twelve ponds and expand pond by pond as his business grows. Other entrepreneurs on the farm are doing the same thing, and they all help each other out. Shrimp farming is part of the culture in this corner of the state, and we provide a place where that culture can flourish.
Shrimp News: Is your offer open to foreigners?
Bing Hung: Yes, we started out just serving Texas companies, now we have people coming in from other states and overseas.
Shrimp News: Will you be at the World Aquaculture Society Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, USA, in February 2007?
Bing Hung: Yes, and I will talk with anyone interested in leasing ponds. I also invite everyone to visit our farm, it's about a four to five hour drive from San Antonio.
Information: Bing Hung, Southern Star, Inc., 35518 Marshall Hutts Road, Rio Hondo, TX 78583 USA (phone 956-748-2333, mobile 956-266-5495, fax 956-748-3600, email binghung2@aol.com).
Source: Bing Hung. Interview by Bob Rosenberry, Shrimp News International. El Cajon, California. December 11, 2006.
Texas Farm Sells Shrimp Online
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Harlingen Shrimp Farms, Ltd., produced its first crop of shrimp in 1982. Its Bayview farm, one of five, is the oldest continuously operating shrimp farm in the United States.
Harlingen's operations are regulated by eight federal agencies, some of which use Harlingen as a model on how to do shrimp farming right.
If you have Google Earth, you can view the farm at latitude 26°--8'--56.76"--N; longitude 97°--18'--58.69"--W. The satellite image that you see was taken in the winter when the ponds were dry.
Here's the complete listing of Harlingen's "Texas Star" online shrimp products:
Harlingen's "Texas Star" Shrimp
I purchased five pounds of Harlingen's 16/20s for $25.10, plus $36.98 for over-night shipping, which worked out to about $12 a pound. They were top quality.
Information: Fritz Jaenike, Harlingen Shrimp Farms, Ltd., 44099 Schafer Road, Los Fresnos, Texas 78566 USA (phone 956-233-5723, email hsfbayview@compuserve.com, website http://harlingenshrimp.com).
Sources: 1. Harlingen Shrimp Farms, Ltd. Website visit (http://harlingenshrimp.com) on November 10, 2006. 2. Telephone conversation with Brent Burkott, web administrator at Harlingen, on November 14, 2006. 3. Google Earth on November 6, 2006.
The History of Shrimp Farming in West Texas
By Granvil Treece
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At one time, six shrimp farms in West Texas with almost 200 acres of ponds contributed significantly to the state's overall production of farm-raised shrimp. The challenge of operating in such a remote area, however, took its toll, and today only one farm remains.
In 1972, two Ward County, Texas, gravel pit operators, Hal Brown and Dean Phipps, asked the local county agent to help them explore the possibility of using saline ground water for aquaculture in some of their gravel pits.
In 1973 County Extension Agent Johnny Harris, with the assistance of Dr. James Davis and Dr. Jack Parker of Texas A&M University (both retired), stocked some shrimp in West Texas.
Early experiments were crude and little data were obtained-- other than survival rates, which indicated the biological feasibility of shrimp cultivation in West Texas.
Stocking continued and gradually a body of information was accumulated that supported commercial shrimp farming in West Texas.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s Vernon Holcomb, Jack Parker (not the Jack Parker mentioned above) and Charlie McKaskle all tried pilot-scale shrimp farms in West Texas. Holcomb's farm was in Stanton; Parker's in Crockett County near Iraan; and McKaskle's in Martin County. McKaskle produced commercial crops of shrimp in 1989 (810 pounds per acre) and 1990 (2,166 pounds per acre). The 1990 crop was from 4.2 acres of ponds, which yielded 9,100 pounds of shrimp. The farms closed for different reasons. Holcomb's aquifer dried up during a drought year. Parker's farm produced an average of 1,068 pounds per acre in 1989, but could not get viable seedstock the following year and the bank took the farm.
In 1991, Durwood Dugger conducted a feasibility study for the Pecos County Water District No. 3 entitled "The Feasibility of Aquaculture in Pecos County and Far West Texas".
In July 1992, Texas A&M University (TAMU), the Texas General Land Office, and Pecos County Water District No. 3 jointly opened a R&D Center in Imperial, Texas. Redfish and shrimp were grown at a pilot facility consisting of six, one-acre ponds. The R&D facility had some problems sealing its ponds the first year, but produced 1,140 pounds of shrimp. This pilot helped pave the way for a commercial group (Triton) from Florida to try shrimp farming in West Texas. In 1993 and 1994, Triton produced commercial crops of shrimp, but decided to sell the farm. C.E. Selinger of Odessa and a group from India purchased the farm from Triton and reopened it as Pecos River Aquaculture in 2001. Currently, the farm is leased, but not in production.
Production averages from the various farms in West Texas ranged from 3,000 to 4,500 pounds per acre. The highest production was with the Super Shrimp (Litopenaeus stylirostris) in 1996 at the Regal Farm, where 6,000 pounds per acre were produced.
The aquifer used by shrimp farms in the Imperial area is the Cenozoic Alluvium, water remaining from the Permian Sea. Salinity varies from 10 parts per thousand to 15 ppt. There are no fresh water zones in the area, and no discharge water leaves any farm. The water is too salty for agricultural uses. Red clay soils can be found in the area for lining ponds.
Bart Reid and Permian Sea Organics
Over the years, Bart Reid has played a pioneering role in West Texas shrimp farming, and today his farm in Imperial, Permian Sea Organics (formerly Permian Sea Shrimp Company), is the last of the shrimp farms. Reid has 64 surface acres of ponds, filled with a combination of tap and irrigation water from Pecos County Water District #3 and water from the aquifer. He is one of two shrimp farms in the USA that can sell USDA Certified Organic Shrimp.
In 2005, Reid stocked 20 acres and produced 20,000 pounds of shrimp. He stocked at low densities and raised the shrimp organically, feeding only 24 thousand pounds of feed, while the shrimp utilized the natural productivity in the ponds for additional nutrition. The survival for the 2005 crop was 70%.
Reid avoids chemicals and antibiotics, does not crowd his shrimp and uses organic feed. Marty Mesh, executive director of Florida Organic Growers (FOG) in Gainesville, Florida, said FOG certified the farm as "USDA Organic" because Reid followed all the rules. Reid thinks the "organic" label will help his products compete with the foreign shrimp flooding into the United States from Asia and Latin America. He says he can charge $5 a pound wholesale for his organic shrimp, compared with $2 for conventional shrimp.
Groundwater quantities are still unknown in West Texas and are a source of uncertainty to any operating farm. However, marketing the shrimp appears to be the biggest uncertainty and one of the biggest challenges. Some of the shrimp can be sold fresh at harvest to local markets, but that market is easily saturated. The organic certification of the shrimp opens up new markets as far away as California. Reid also sells his shrimp over the Internet or directly from his shrimp store and restaurant in Imperial.
If you have Google Earth (free, but you must download it from Google's website) installed on your computer, you can view Permian Sea Organics at latitude 31°, 16', 16.93" N; longitude 102°, 40', 48.35"W.
Information: For a list of West Texas saline groundwater references, contact Granvil Treece, Aquaculture Specialist, Texas A&M University, Sea Grant College Program, 2700 Earl Rudder Freeway South, Suite 1800, College Station, Texas 77845 USA (phone 979-845-7527, fax 979-845-7525, email g-treece@neo.tamu.edu, website http://texas-sea-grant.tamu.edu).
Source: Texas Aquaculture Association Website (http://www.texasaquaculture.org/index.html). Update on Inland Shrimp Farming in West Texas (http://www.texasaquaculture.org/id227.htm). Granvil Treece. Site visit on September 13, 2006.
Exhibitors
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Acqua & Co. Srl Advanced BioNutrition Corp. Aeration Industries International, Inc. Aerway Manufacturing Company Air-O-Lator Corporation AirTree Ozone Technology Co. Alchem Industries Alicorp S.A.A. Alltech Inc. American Tilapia Association aOvaTechnologies, Inc. AQ1 Systems Pty Ltd Aqua Bounty Technologies Aqua Logic, Inc Aquacenter, Inc. Aquacultural Engineering Society Aquaculture Engineering Group, Inc. Aquaculture Magazine Aquaculture Systems Technologies, LLC Aquafauna Bio-Marine, Inc. Aqualine AS AquaMaof Technnologies Ltd. Aquaneering, Inc. Aquatic Eco-Systems, Inc. Aquatic Health Resources, LLC Aquavan Technology Inc. AREA Armada Systems, Inc. Artemia International LLC Atlantium Technologies Ltd. Bentoli AgriNutrition Inc. BIOMIN Biscayne Aquaculture Blackwell Publishing Campbell Scientific, Inc. Cargill Animal Nutrition
616, 618, 620Carlisle SynTec Incorporated CLEPCO / Cleveland Process Corp. Colorado Lining International Colorite Plastics Conforma Clad Inc. CPM Roskamp Champion D & T Fiberglass Inc. Dae Yang Air Stone Ind., Co. Delstar Technologies, Inc Delta Hydronics, Inc. Diamond V Mills DSM Dyneema DSM Nutritional Products E.S.E. & INTEC (Midland Companies) Eagar, Inc Elsevier Emperor Aquatics, Inc. Environmental Technologies, Inc. - ETI Epicore Bionetworks Inc. Ewing Irrigation & Industrial Products Extru-Tech, Inc. FeedMed Ltd. Firestone Specialty Products Fish Farming International Fish Farming News Forestry Suppliers, Inc. Fresh-flo Corporation Fybroc Division Global Aquaculture Alliance Griffin Industries, Inc. GSE Lining Technology, Inc. GTC Nutrition H. M. Johnson & Associates Hach Environmental Hatchery International HDR|FishPro House Manufacturing Company, Inc. IDC Westinghouse IMCOPA In-Situ Inc. Integrator Aqua Systems, Inc. Intermas Nets SA International Business Wales International Filter Solutions International Ingredient Corporation InterNet, Inc. INVE Aquaculture, Inc. ITT Advanced Water Treatment-Royce Technologies Kasco Marine, Inc. Keeton Industries Magic Valley Heli-Arc & Mfg. Maine Aquaculture Association Marine Biotech, Inc. MariSource Melick Aquafeed, Inc. Museum Apparel Nanrong (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. National Aquaculture Association Nelson & Sons, Inc. / Silver Cup Feeds Northwest Marine Technology, Inc. Nutricil São Pedro Agro Industrial Ltda. Oceanic Institute Octaform Systems Inc. Omega Protein, Inc. Pacific Ozone Technology Panorama Acuícola Magazine Parkway Research div. of Brandt Consolidated Pilot Company Limited Point Four Systems, Inc. PolyTank Inc. Poultry Protein & Fat Council PRAqua Group Ltd. PRILABSA International Process Technology Promens R & B Aquatic Distribution, Inc. Rangen, Inc. Red Ewald, Inc. Reed Mariculture Reef Industries, Inc. RK2 Systems Inc Salt Creek Inc. Schering-Plough Corporation Seabait Limited Signal Corporation Skretting Smith-Root, Inc. Sort-Rite International Striped Bass Growers Association Syndel Laboratories Ltd. Tanaka Sanjiro Company, Ltd. Taylor & Francis Group Ten Cate Texas Hunter Products The ROAN Group, Inc. Therion International, LLC Toshi Pump Co., Ltd. U.S. Soybean Export Council U.S. Trout Farmers Association Uniscope, Inc. United-Tech, Inc. USDA / National Agricultural Statistics Vertex Water Features Water Garden Gems Water Management Technologies Inc. Waterco/Baker Hydro Div. Wenger Manufacturing, Inc. Western Chemical / Syndel Wisconsin Flowgate & Culvert Co Inc Wofford Electric & Pump Supply YSI, Inc. Yunker Plastics, Inc. Zeigler Bros., Inc.
