Oceanic Institute techniques may produce larger, healthier harvests

BY SEAN HAO, Honolulu Advertiser Staff Writer

The Oceanic Institute yesterday harvested its highest yielding crop of shrimp to date using new farming techniques aimed at cutting production costs and boosting yields.

Researchers hope the new technology developed at the Makapu`u Point facility will help the U.S. shrimp industry, which is swamped by about $3 billion a year in foreign shrimp imports.

"There's a large demand but a lack of domestic shrimp," said Shaun Moss, director of the institute's shrimp department. "The expectation is that at the end of our project we'll have an integrated system that hopefully will make shrimp farming more cost-effective and environmentally friendly."

The technology could help domestic farmers produce healthier, larger and more frequent crops of shrimp, according to the Institute. That could be particularly useful to farmers in areas such as Hawai`i where land is priced at a premium.

"The nice thing about our system is you can produce a lot of shrimp with a small amount of land," Moss said.

Overall the institute raised about 1,000 pounds, or roughly 28,000 shrimp via its BioZEST system, which eliminates the release of effluent waters created by traditional shrimp farming techniques.

The use of genetic, nutritional and farming techniques produced 17.2 pounds of shrimp within a 3.3-square-foot area, Moss said. The previous record at the facility was 15 pounds per 3.3-square-foot area. That compares to typical production yields of up to 2.2 pounds per 3.3-square-foot area, he said.

The five-year project, which is paid for with $16.5 million in federal and private money, is entering its fourth year at a time when officials are looking at the best way to transfer the technology to the private sector. That could include licensing the technology or entering into revenue sharing agreements, Moss said.

"Some investors have already expressed an interest," he said. "In the next year or so those issues will be front boiler plate issues."

The shrimp harvested yesterday will be given to institute employees and donated to groups such as the Job Corps in Waimänalo.

Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8093.