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Farm-raised
shrimp are the future of Florida's aquaculture
industry
FORT PIERCE— Frank "Sonny"
Williamson, Okeechobee County cattleman
and citrus grower, pronounced them "sweet,
mild and very tasty."
Williamson was one of several
dozen people downing Pacific White shrimp
Monday afternoon during the first harvest
of the crustaceans during an open house
and shrimp boil at the University of Florida's
Aquaculture Demonstration Project off Picos
Road.
Florida ranks third in aquaculture
production of all types, but the industry's
backbone has been ornamental fish for aquariums,
said Ferdinand Wirth, associate professor
and the project's principal investigator.
"If ornamentals have
been the backbone, food species such as
shrimp represent the future potential,"
Wirth said.
The farm's four "grow-out"
ponds and the greenhouse where shrimp the
size of an eyelash begin their life at the
site will help researchers perfect the practical
application of aquaculture and study its
economic viability.
Construction began in 2002
with a grant for almost a quarter of a million
dollars from the state Agriculture Department.
Additional money provided by the University
of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural
Sciences brought the start-up costs to just
under $600,000 to date, Wirth said.
Farmers need to diversify
so they're not dependent on one or two crops,
said Williamson, chairman of the institute's
aquaculture advisory subcommittee.
Land grant universities such
as UF have a duty to provide agricultural
producers with information about the science
and economic feasibility of new ventures
such as aquaculture.
There's definite interest
on the part of growers of other commodities.
"They're going to wait
until they see some figures out of the university
that will show it can be successful,"
Williamson said.
The first crop of 2,400 pounds
of shrimp, harvested Oct. 27, and the next
crop popping out this week show shrimp farming
can be done at the site.
Research also is planned with
other seafood such as tiger shrimp, pompano
and other finfish.
The facility's shrimp will
be sold beginning Friday as live shrimp
to the public for $4 a pound, with a minimum
purchase of 10 pounds, Wirth said.
Florida is home to 10 shrimp
farms, seven of which produced $5 million
worth of shrimp in 2003, according to the
Florida Agricultural Statistics Service.
The problem has been that
private producers have been loath to share
production data, Wirth said, but the data
collected at the demonstration facility
will be the basis for a profitability analysis.
"Is it a profitable enterprise?
We hope so, and we think so," said
LeRoy Creswell, the project's co-principal
investigator with the UF/IFAS St. Lucie
County Cooperative Extension Service. "Those
things are yet to be determined."
Sherman Wilhelm, director
of the state Division of Aquaculture, said
shrimp are now the nation's top seafood.
Aquaculture is becoming more of a necessity
all the time, and it's a natural because
the demand is there.
"The world's population
is demanding protein," he said. "It
isn't going to be all coming from red meat."
• Pacific White shrimp
from the University of Florida's Aquaculture
Demonstration Project will be available,
by pre-order only, to the public beginning
Friday.
• Consumers must buy
a minimum of 10 pounds; the price is $4
a pound.
• The shrimp will be
sold live.
• To order, e-mail Ferdinand
Wirth at ffwirth@ifas.ufl.edu.
By Susan Salisbury
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
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