WLOX-TV and WLOX.com - The News for South MississippiShrimp Harvest Begins At Gulf Coast Research Lab

Shrimp Harvest Begins At Gulf Coast Research Lab

It was a great start to harvest season for Gulf Coast Research workers as they stood in amazement to see the fruits of their labor.

"We harvested 500 pounds of shrimp out of the tank," says Dr. Tom Mcllwain.

Hundreds of shrimp are raised at the indoor facility every year through the lab's marine shrimp farming program. Dr. Mcllwain says the process is also environmentally friendly.

"Our goal was to be able to produce shrimp in a closed system with zero discharge of water."

But when Katrina hit, production came to a halt. 

"We lost the top off the greenhouse. We lost the shrimp we had in house," Dr. McIlwain said. "We were not able to harvest them, we did not have the infrastructure last year."

Now that the equipment has been repaired and employees have returned, the goal is to market these American grown saltwater shrimp in America.

"That is $4 billion that can stay in the United States if we had a domestic industry. In order to develop a domestic industry, we have to do it in an environmentally friendly way - that is low water use, a low discharge, and it has be competitive price wise," Dr. Jeff Lotz said.

"Our ultimate goal is to produce a crop that we would sell right now. We want to experiment with them and get them out in the public," Dr. Mcllwain said.

The Cedar Point facility is the largest research development center for farm raised shrimp in the United States.

By Patrice Clark