Aquaculture America 2020

February 9 - 12, 2020

Honolulu, Hawaii

A BIOECONOMIC MODEL OF INDOOR MARINE SHRIMP Litopenaeus vannamei FARMS WITH LOW-COST SALT MIXTURES

Patrick Maier*, Kwamena Quagrainie
 
Department of Agricultural Economics
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN 47906
pmaier@purdue.edu
 

US domestic shrimp production is small, producing around 1,800 metric tons per year. Earthen Ponds and Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) are the two methods of domestic production. RAS systems have become increasingly popular  in the Midwestern United States  due to their ability to operate in colder climates  indoors  year-round. The problem with most RAS  shrimp  farms is that they are located inland, hundreds of miles from the ocean. Shrimp farmers are thus tasked with creating sea water by mixing freshwater with specialized,  expensive sea salt. Recent studies on Low-Cost Salt Mixtures (LCSMs) derived from cheaper, industrial salt components have shown promise.

To analyze  the impact of these cheaper salts on a commercial  shrimp RAS systems , a bioeconomic model was constructed that  uses biological growth parameters as well as  financial and capital costs and returns  in  a series of financial performance measures.  Three different  farm scenarios were created, ranging from small to large. C ommercial farms  in Kentucky and Indiana  provided data to validate the model's inputs. The Aquaculture Research Center at Kentucky State University has run several experiments testing the  biological performance of the LCSMs and provided the costs.

Using Palisade's @Risk Excel  software add -in, a series of variables were made stochastic using both perf and triangular distribution s. The  adoption of the LCSM s did improve financial performance in each scenario but the results were marginal. Other inputs such as growth rates, survival rates, feed costs, and post larvae costs are more sensitive in deciding th e financial health of RAS shrimp farms.