Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL (CPF) said it is working to build a modern model of shrimp farm in the United States that can operate in any location, at any time of year.
Earlier this year, CPF formed a subsidiary, Homegrown Shrimp, to build the pilot recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) shrimp farm located in Indiantown, Florida, less than 40 miles away from West Palm Beach.
In a statement released Monday, 20 July, CPF gave more details about the project, which it called an “Aquaculture 5.0” shrimp farm.
“It will be the most sustainable and reliable technology for culturing shrimp. Homegrown Shrimp, our subsidiary in the USA, undertakes technologies that will culture shrimp anywhere in the world and in any season.” CPF Executive Vice President Robins McIntosh said.
The technology that CPF is developing will be able to mix local water sources with salt to provide artificial seawater supply for the farm. This “unconventional approach” will enable the company to establish and run the farm in any location and help lower cost of shrimp and reduce impact on the environment, McIntosh said.
Temperature will be kept at around 30 degree Celsius for both the farm and the associated hatchery. The operation of the facility will also be assisted with automation and mechanical equipment to “provide more efficient operation and reduce manpower.”
CPF said all water used during the operation of the farm will be recycled, and all wastes from the farming activities will be processed to become an inert disposable product or treated to use as a byproduct for other purposes.
Feeds for the shrimp will be sourced from sustainable ingredients, not from marine meals or soybeans from sensitive areas.
McIntosh further said that the new model will take the “domesticated floc” technology applied in the broodstock grow-out farms as the basis for management.
“CPF Turbo” post-larvae, considered by the company as its fast-growing baby shrimp, with recorded success in CPF farms across Asia, will be used for the new farm.
CPF expects to run four crops per year with the new farm. With a possible yield of between 20 to 25 kilograms per square meter, a farm of 8,000 square meters will give the owner 190 metric tons (MT) of fresh shrimp of 40 count per year.
McIntosh expects the farm will achieve a revenue of USD 2.85 million (EUR 2.5 million) per year if the shrimp is sold at a minimum rate of USD 15.00 (EUR 13.00) per kilogram. Therefore, five farms with a hatchery facility on 20 hectares of land could bring about 950 MT of shrimp, with revenues of USD 14.25 million (EUR 12.5 million) per year, he said.
Photo courtesy of CP Foods
