SoCal Aquaponics

The Shrimp’s name was derived from the Middle English word shrimpe that meant "pygmy”. History shows that as far back as the 7^th century travelers like Marco Polo mentioned Shrimp being a staple part of the East Asian diet (Chinese). In Louisiana, harvesting of shrimp dates back to the 17th century where bayou residents used seines up to 600 feet in diameter to scoop up the delicacy.

Currently the US harvests over half million pounds of shrimp and imports another 200 million pounds a year, more than any other country. Typically, there are more than 2,000 species of shrimp in the world but in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic waters there are five species of shrimp that are commercially harvested.

Four of those species are recognized by their shell color (pink, white, brown, and royal red) and the fifth specie is known as the “Rock shrimp”. It is a smaller deep-water shrimp with a tough, rock-hard shell. It is common for Shrimp to be mistaken for Prawns.  In some areas, jumbo shrimp are referred to as prawns, but the prawn is actually a completely different species in the lobster family.

Shrimp can be caught in the wild or farm-raised. Shrimp that is caught in its natural habitat are found in bays, estuaries, and oceans. Shrimp can be grown in a controlled environment in Aquaculture. Shrimp grown in Aquaculture are also known as pond-raised, cultured, or maricultured.  The eggs and larvae of the Shrimp are gathered from their natural environment or grown in hatcheries after removed from a female’s brood stock. The shrimp are then raised to maturity in tanks or ponds (usually shallow ponds)

Worldwide, over 300 species of shrimp have commercial value, but only a few species are important to the market in the U.S. They basically fall under three groups: cold water shrimp, warm water shrimp, and freshwater shrimp.