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.