After studying and researching aquaculture at Auburn University and Central America for more than fifteen years, David Teichert-Coddington decided he'd use his Ph.D. for something challenging. Like shrimp farming in America.

Although his specialty was tilapia, David had to grow something more valuable due to the high cost of agricultural land in the U.S. He settled on Pacific white shrimp (or "whiteleg" shrimp), which he knew could be grown far away from the ocean in low salinity water, where land was cheaper. In 2001, he and his partner, H. R. Schmittou, found some land in western Alabama where salty water was available, dug some ponds, bought some P. vananmei seedstock and started Greene Prairie Aquafarm.

His business plan, which was to sell his crop to shrimp processors, went out the window when shrimp prices crashed after 9-11. "I couldn't get any takers," he recalls, "so we had to start pushing our shrimp ourselves." He started knocking on the doors of restaurants and natural food retailers. Ten years later Greene Prairie Shrimp is an example of how small scale aquaculture operations in the U.S. can successfully compete against the mountain of lower-priced seafood imports from Latin America and Asia. Producing a high-quality, natural product sustainably is key.

Greene Prairie has 20 semi-intensive shrimp ponds that cover an area of 64 acres. Each acre produces about 3,500 pounds of live shrimp, for a total annual harvest of about 220,000 pounds. Shrimp larvae are put in the ponds in early May and harvested over a seven-week period that starts in September and is over by the end of October. The last couple of years David has gotten a jump on the season by growing shrimp in greenhouses starting in March. That experiment ended for the time being, though, when tornadoes tore through Alabama in April, destroying the green houses.

Greene Prairie has a processor in Florida that custom processes its shrimp. Most of the harvest is sold as frozen, shell-on or E-Z peel tails. One of the reasons, Greene Prairie is successful is that they are able to harvest large sizes of shrimp, which are worth a premium. The goal is to produce shrimp that yield 21/25 tails as the smallest size. Shrimp are grown on a feed that contains only 5% fish meal, a number David says he is still trying to lower.

When he started, David says he was committed to producing a natural, chem-free shrimp. "We knew we didn't want to use chemicals, because once you start, it's a downward spiral. We had a hard time at first because nobody wanted to process for us because we wouldn't use tripoly. It took awhile to convince our customers that we were really producing an all-natural shrimp."

But they are convinced. Almost all of Greene Prairie's shrimp is pre-sold. David could add more ponds to increase production, but he is somewhat circumspect. "We've got more land, but I'm getting to the end of my rope as to what I can manage." Higher stocking densities are another option in shrimp farming, but that's not the road he wants to go down. "We could produce more shrimp in our ponds if we pushed it, but the risk is too high." In the meantime, demand for his production keeps growing and shrimp prices are up. "It's a good combination," David says.

 

Click here to view Greene Prairie's shrimp listing and remember to tell them you found them on FishChoice.