Shrimp harvest shows possibilities of aquaculture

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- It's been four years since Bill Crites, 37, of Chaffee looked at his muddy back yard and thought it would make a nice place to raise crustaceans.

Four long years since his friends thought he'd gone a little crazy.

But now, with an annual harvest of 2,200 pounds of Pacific white shrimp, which he sells to private customers and out of his newly opened convenience store, Crites believes he's found a good way to supplement his income.

"It's worked well, and I think eventually it will be profitable," he said.

Crites and a panel of local experts will be at the University of Missouri Cape Girardeau County Extension office in Jackson Wednesday to take part in a one-day aquaculture conference. Aquaculture is the practice of inland farming of marine animals such as shrimp, catfish or trout for commercial sale.

Its proponents call it a good way for farmers to diversify.

"It used to be every farmer kept hogs and chickens or had a couple of milk cows and sold some cream on the side, but we've gone away from that now. So, a lot of farmers are now looking at alternative crops," said Gerald Bryan of MU Extension.

Bryan said a savvy aquaculture farmer can earn 20 to 30 percent back on his investment.

But don't get into the business thinking it will be simple, Crites warns.

"I put a lot of money into it early on," he said.

Some of that initial investment includes $5,000 to dig the ponds, $3,500 to dig a well for the water source, $800 for a drainage system, $2,500 for an aeration system, $1,300 for the shrimp nursery and $700 for the first 100,000 shrimp.

And that doesn't even include the tractor-load of salt he dumps into his ponds each year to maintain suitable salination levels.

"There's a lot that goes into it," he said.

It's a careful, delicate business and Crites wakes up at 2 a.m. just to check the oxygen levels in his pond. He buys his shrimp stock in late May, holds them indoors for several weeks where he slowly weens them off saltwater and then puts them in the ponds in June. He harvests the shrimp in September.

Shrimp must be restocked each year in Missouri's climate because they cannot survive the winter months. Crites "double stocks" his ponds and raises trout there during the winter months.

But he's most proud of the little pink hors d'oeuvres.

"They have just an unbelievable taste. I think it's just a matter of time before people stop going to Schnucks," and start eating aquaculture shrimp, he said.

The aquaculture variety aren't quite as "fishy," he says.

"When you clean them there's no odor like where your fingers stink. If you buy these peel and eat shrimp you can throw them in your trash can and not even know they're there. If you try that with other shrimp, your whole house will be odored up," he said.

"Now, why that is, I don't know."

Gerald Bryan said the goal of the conference is to get area farmers thinking of creative ways to make money on their land.

"We just want them to know that where they have an abundant water source, the fish and shrimp industry is certainly a possibility," he said.

Bryan said even more than Cape Girardeau County, that applies to Bootheel counties whose proximity to the Mississippi River diversion channel make water an abundant commodity.

Attendance at the conference costs $5 (lunch included); those interested can register by contacting Bryan at (573) 547-4504.

tgreaney@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245