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Freshwater prawn is emerging niche for Ohio producers

By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

PIKETON, Ohio — During the spring and summer months the telephone at the office of aquaculture specialist and senior researcher Laura Tiu rings continuously. Tiu receives hundreds of calls each week from farmers, who are contemplating the idea of raising freshwater prawn.

“Raising prawn is still a new industry and has everyone’s curiosity up,” Tiu said, from her OSU South Centers office in Piketon. “There’s good things to like about prawns (or shrimp). First, their growing season is just 100 days. And, it’s not highly technical. That’s the good side. The downside is the start-up costs involved and the need for a big pond.”

According to Tiu, the freshwater prawn originated from Malaysia and were first shipped to warmer growing climates like Hawaii, Texas and Florida.

“Then, in the 1990s they brought freshwater prawn into Kentucky, and we discovered that even though we have a shorter growing season in this area we can still get them up to market size,” Tiu said. “In 2001, they arrived in Ohio, even to the northern part of the state near Youngstown.”

According to Tiu, interest in the prawn has intensified the past few years, but the number of growers has remained at just 20 across the state. Of the 20 actively involved, 19 had successful results with prawn in 2009.

“There are a lot of things we still don’t know about raising prawns,” Tiu said. “It’s like the rest of agriculture, it’s a risky business. What growers should realize is that the prawn can be profitable, and they fit in as a diversification initiative. It can be a profitable business on a small scale. In addition, there is a lot of hands-on marketing involved and we’re finding that most growers don’t like to engage in this hands-on activity. Freshwater prawn is such a niche product that marketing it is tough.”

Aquaculturists at the South Centers at Piketon have tended a one-acre pond for the past eight years, attempting to learn more and more about the prawn. Last month’s harvest of the pond yielded 9,000 prawns (about 600 pounds) of the crustacean. On average, farmers sell these prawns for $8-$15 a pound.

“What I find fascinating about the freshwater prawn is that it’s the size of a dime when you stock it in June, and by the time you harvest it 100 days later it’s the size of your hand,” Tiu said. “Each year we try to do applied research and hands-on technology transfer to help growers solve some of the problems they may be facing.”

Stock mortality

This past growing season researchers in Ohio concentrated on stock mortality, algae build-up in ponds and quality assurance.

“One problem facing growers is that once you stock prawns in your pond you don’t see them again until harvest, and one of the concerns is how many of those prawns survive the stocking process.
“This year we built three artificial habitats, stocked 20 prawns in each one and checked on the habitats daily. We had 100 percent survival rate in two habitats and we only lost one prawn in the third. So by having a simple tool like that growers can be assured that their prawns aren’t suffering any stocking mortality.”

In a second project to reduce the amount of algae growing in nutrient-rich ponds, researchers planted winter wheat, rye and other nitrogen-reducing vegetation to reduce algae growth, while at the same time providing a habitat for the prawns.

Finally, researchers demonstrated new quality assurance procedures. The first involved rinsing the prawns in a purge tank to ensure all dirt particles are removed from the tail meat.
“Prawns are bottom-feeders and the mud that they ingest may not affect the quality of the meat, but from an aesthetic standpoint customers don’t like to see that,” Tiu said.

Each season the harvest and quality assurance demonstrations at the South Centers pond allow Ohio farmers to observe the prawn production process, see the product and determine whether or not the prawn business is right for them.

“When people call us and say they’re interested in prawn production we send them information, and then we invite them to our facility, analyze what resources they have and need and put together a business plan so they can make a decision as to whether or not this is a good alternative crop for them,” Tiu said.

Tiu is quick to point out that freshwater prawns are one kind of shrimp. All prawns are shrimp, but not all shrimp are prawns.

12/2/2009