Shrimp Farming at Epoch Prawn Farms on the Island of Okinawa

One of Okinawa’s most popular products on the Japanese mainland is kuruma tiger shrimp (Penaeus japonicus, locally called kuruma ebi) produced by Epoch Prawn Farms in mineral-rich, deep-sea water pumped to the surface by the Okinawa Deepsea Water Research Institute.

Before cooking, you can differentiate kuruma shrimp from other tiger shrimp by the distinct blue in their tails. The prawns are nearly translucent with stripes that give them their English name tiger shrimp.

The shrimp are initially hatched at a centralized location near the research institute before being distributed to several farms. The shrimp are active at night and spend their days buried in the sand on the bottom of the growout ponds.

In June, at Epoch Prawn Farms, the water is drained from the tanks and the sand at the bottom is exchanged with new sand, and any shrimp that were not harvested the previous year are collected. Exchanging the sand is a difficult and expensive process, but important for producing high-quality shrimp. If the sand is not replaced, the shrimp have a softer color and less flavor.

The shrimp eggs near the deep-sea water institute hatch in September. They are cultured through their larval stages and then transferred to the shrimp farms. Around 400,000 postlarvae are stocked in each pond. Epoch has three ponds.

The prawns grow slowly during the cold winter months, but they have a better taste and more amino acids than prawns grown in the summer, when they grow more quickly.

To ensure the highest quality, Epoch feeds the shrimp daily with a proprietary mix of vitamins, squid, ground fish and other ingredients imported from mainland Japan. The feed is expensive, but ensures that the shrimp develop the right color. Every day, divers patrol the pools to ensure the shrimp are eating and that no debris has entered the tanks from the sea. Water is exchanged daily.

Utilizing lights and bait, shrimp are trapped at night because that’s when they are active. A simple funnel net allows the shrimp to enter the trap and keeps them from escaping. Small shrimp can easily escape from the traps. In the morning, the shrimp are transferred to cold-water containers and transported directly to a processing facility.

At Epoch, the shrimp are sorted by size and then the shrimp with no damage to their appendages are separated for live shipment. About 1% of the shrimp has soft shells, which are very popular. Once sorted, the shrimp are weighed and boxed. They can live two to three days if kept cold, and can be shipped live all over Japan.

Most Okinawa tiger shrimp are sent to Tokyo and other large cities in Japan, where high-end restaurants purchase them at auctions. Some shrimp are also flash frozen for distribution during non-peak seasons. Shrimp are especially popular as gifts (esebo), given at the end of the year.

Epoch Tiger Prawns produces high-quality shrimp. Many farms throughout Okinawa also produce tiger shrimp, but the close proximity to deep-sea water and careful control allow Epoch to produce truly superior shrimp. Depending on size, its shrimp sell for between $31 and $45 a pound.

Source: The Ultimate English Guide to Kumejima [Okinawa]. Tiger Prawns [車エビ]. No date, discovered on May 21, 2013.

The Use of Antibiotics in Shrimp Farming

The antibiotics most frequently used in aquaculture to combat bacterial diseases are oxytetracycline, florfenicol, sarafloxacin and enrofloxacin. Globally, other antibiotics such as chlortetracycline, quinolones, ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, oxolinic acid, perfloxacin, sulfamethazine, gentamicin and tiamulin are used.

Penaeus monodon May Be Established in USA Waters

A breeding population of giant tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) may be established off the southeastern coast of the United States and in the Gulf of Mexico.

In 1988, nearly 300 tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) were collected off the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida after an accidental release of roughly 2,000 animals from the Waddell Mariculture Center in South Carolina.  It’s doubtful if this release has had anything to do with the increase in P. monodon catches that began in 2006 when six monodon were collected in USA waters.  In 2007, four were collected, in 2008 (21), in 2009 (47), in 2010 (32)—and in 2011 (273)!  Monodon has now been found from North Carolina to Texas.  The first documented collections in Mississippi and Texas occurred in 2009 and 2011, respectively.

Chemical and physical factors that affect the growth of shrimp

In order L. Vannamei can grow optimally, it needs a place to live that can provide state physics, chemistry, and biology is optimal. Physical environmental conditions are including temperature and salinity. While the chemical conditions is including pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), nitrate, orthophosphoric, and the presence of plankton as natural feed. Should be noted that environmental conditions can inhibit the growth of shrimp, shrimp can be deadly, such as the emergence of toxic gases and pathogenic microorganisms.

How to Choose a Location for The Development of Shrimp Farming Area?

Mangrove Forest
One function of mangrove forests as a buffer to maintain the shoreline in order to remain stable. Mangrove Forests can prevent sea erosion due to its ability in accelerating the expansion of land. On the other hand, the mangrove forest is also the most productive coastal ecosystems to be used as shrimp ponds. Especially for traditional pond.

IMNV (Infectious Mionecrosis Virus) on white shrimp (Penaeus Vannamei) and how to prevent it.

IMNV (Infectious Mionecrosis Virus) is a disease found in the white shrimp. The disease was first discovered in Brazil and the coast of South America in 2003. When first attacked, productivity white shrimp in Brazil declined very sharply. Over time IMNV disease a scourge that was greatly feared by the white shrimp farmers worldwide.

Morphology, anatomy, and physiology of white shrimp

Shrimp body is divided into 2 parts, the head and body section. the head fused with the chest called the cephalothorax. This section consists of 13 sections. 8 segment the chest and 5 segments on the head. Body and the abdomen consists of 6 segments, each segment has a pair of swimming feet are also segmented.