Selective Breeding Marine Shrimp for Low Salinity Culture

In the United States, a small but profitable shrimp farming industry is located along the Gulf Coast of Texas with a few coastal farms in South Carolina and Hawaii. Because coastal lands in the U.S. are extremely expensive and highly regulated, expansion of the U.S. shrimp industry along the coasts is nearly impossible. In response to this constraint, shrimp farming at inland sites is now being tested in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Texas, Arizona and California. The inland farms in the U.S. have stocked the Pacific White Shrimp P. vannamei, the preferred culture species in the hemisphere in both coastal farms as well as inland farms. While this species is a true marine species requiring full strength seawater (30-35 ppt) for reproduction, it can be acclimated to and adapts well to low salinity environments. While substantial progress has been made in inland shrimp farming, further success could be achieved through development of a selected stock of shrimp bred for maximum performance in low salinity conditions. This project will apply selective breeding to several genetically independent groups of SPF P. vannamei to develop a Low-salinity tolerant stock. Once developed, commercial quantities of Low-salinity tolerant (LST) P. vannamei broodstock will be supplied to U.S. hatcheries (in Phase II) for commercial production trials. We estimate an immediate market for at least 20,000 Low-salinity tolerant broodstock per year worldwide.