Shrimp Farming in the United States: Freshwater and Marine Options for Small Producers

Americans consume more shrimp than any other seafood — approximately 1.7 billion pounds per year — and approximately 90 percent of it is imported. The domestic shrimp farming industry operates at a small fraction of its potential market, and for producers in appropriate climates with appropriate infrastructure, shrimp farming offers genuine opportunity in a high-value market with demonstrated consumer willingness to pay premium prices for domestic product. The biological requirements are specific and the production systems are different from finfish farming, but the market case is stronger than for almost any other aquaculture species.

Pacific White Shrimp: The Industry Standard

Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) is the world’s most widely farmed shrimp species and the primary species in the limited US shrimp farming industry. It grows rapidly — from post-larvae to market size (12 to 15 grams) in approximately three to four months — tolerates a range of salinities from full saltwater to low-salinity conditions, and accepts commercial pelleted feed efficiently. Certified specific pathogen-free (SPF) post-larvae from certified hatcheries are available for US producers, providing disease-free starting stock that reduces the risk of the viral diseases that have devastated shrimp farming operations globally.

Marine Shrimp Systems

Traditional marine shrimp farming in lined ponds or raceways requires saltwater access or the ability to create and maintain artificial seawater through salt additions. Gulf Coast producers in Texas, Florida, and South Carolina have operated marine shrimp farms using tidally influenced ponds. High tunnel or greenhouse-covered raceway systems using artificial seawater are being developed by producers in inland areas where saltwater access is unavailable. The energy cost of maintaining artificial seawater and the infrastructure cost of greenhouse coverage are significant, and the economics require premium pricing at direct market channels to be viable.

Low-Salinity Freshwater Shrimp Culture

Pacific white shrimp can be grown at low salinities — 1 to 5 ppt — with appropriate mineral supplementation to provide the ions required for osmoregulation. This opens shrimp production to inland freshwater producers who can supplement their well or pond water with small quantities of marine salt and mineral additives to achieve the ionic profile the shrimp require. University research in Kentucky, Kansas, and other inland states has demonstrated the feasibility of low-salinity shrimp culture in greenhouse and outdoor pond settings. Growth rates are somewhat slower at low salinity than at marine salinity, but the reduced infrastructure cost of using freshwater rather than saltwater may compensate.