Backyard Shrimping: An Implementation of Low Carbon Footprint, High-Yield, Tank-based Freshwater Shrimp Cultivation Using Easily Obtainable, Recyclable Materials and Hardware

View the project final report

Commodities

• Animals: Freshwater Shrimp

Practices

• Animal Production: aquaculture
• Education and Training: on-farm/ranch research
• Energy: renewable energy, solar energy
• Farm Business Management: farm-to-restaurant
• Production Systems: aquaponics, organic agriculture
• Sustainable Communities: sustainability measures, urban agriculture

Freshwater shrimp production has been encouraged by UNESCO to reduce pressure on salt-water fisheries. The current model for freshwater shrimp farming involves labor-intensive practices that require large land areas. Our project is the continuation of a two-year effort to develop a successful model for tank-based shrimp production that can be used in both rural and urban settings. The land and water use for our model is minimal compared to traditional methods, as our model uses solar power, occupies less than 150 square feet, and uses less than 400 cubic feet of water. The reduced power and labor requirements allow increased profitability. We have trouble- shooted the changes from traditional methods to tank-based cultivation and are asking for a grant to implement a model urban shrimp farm with documentation that will be distributed for other urban and rural farmers use. Access to the all-natural protein produced in our model will improve the quality of life /health of the farmers that use it.

1. Establish dedicated domain for backyard shrimping website and
2. Verify sourcing and cost for model containment
3. Monitor and determine accurate costs for power, water,
4. Verify actual stock survival and end weigh per shrimp at the end of the growing
5. Host harvest open house for all-natural food community through both wilsonscreekfarm.com and hcgiaquaculture.hoodconsultinggroup.com websites and posted fliers in local all-natural/organic grocery