The Sonoran Desert of Arizona might seem like an unlikely spot for shrimp farming. Why then is the federal government spending research dollars here to support it? The answer is to protect our health and create an environmentally sustainable domestic industry producing protein-rich, low-fat domestic shrimp.
The University of Arizona, together with partners in coastal states and the respected Oceanic Institute in Waimanalo, Hawaii, has led the development of a robust domestic shrimp-farming industry by conducting critical research focused on improving diagnostic methods and tools to keep this popular seafood product free of disease.
By continuing nationwide disease surveillance efforts and conducting international diagnostic validation studies — work that must be done in an environment free from potential contamination, like the Sonoran Desert — the UA has helped ensure the safety and wholesomeness of the nation's seafood supply.
Presently there is a $3.7 billion annual trade deficit for shrimp. Shrimp is the most consumed seafood product in the United States, with annual consumption topping 1.4 billion pounds. The major reason for this deficit is foreign competition with domestic shrimp fishermen and farmers and there have been concerns about both the quality and safety of the foreign-grown shrimp.
Making U.S. shrimp farming a success requires advanced selective-breeding techniques, disease management and control methods, and high-density, high-yield production systems that are biologically, environmentally and economically sustainable. Scientists and researchers leading the disease-research component of the domestic industry are a part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the UA.
Under the leadership of UA professor Donald V. Lightner, the world's best-known and most respected shrimp pathologist, this research group quickly discovered that disease research conducted in shrimp ponds in coastal areas was jeopardized by potential contamination from seabirds ingesting wild, sometimes contaminated fish and shrimp and spreading that contamination to ponds containing farm-raised shrimp.
The answer was to isolate the research ponds from such potential contamination and shrimp farming and research in the desert was born. This was made possible by technology developed by Lightner and other scientists affiliated with the U.S. Marine Shrimp Farming Consortium.
The Environmental Defense Fund has certified the technology used by domestic shrimp farmers as environmentally sound and sustainable. Congressman Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., and many of his colleagues recognized the importance of such work and have been champions for the growth of this emerging domestic industry.
So with apologies to shrimp connoisseur Forrest Gump, whether you prefer your shrimp broiled, fried or breaded or in gumbo, fajitas or ceviche, you certainly deserve assurance that it is safe to eat and that it is raised in an environmentally sound way.
Shrimp farming in the desert — and the research that is done by the UA to protect our health and assist this domestic industry — is an excellent example of good science generating sound public policy.
