A Bioeconomic Model of Indoor Pacific Whiteleg Shrimp (Litopenaeus Vannamei) Farms with Low-Cost Salt Mixtures

Patrick N Maier, Purdue University

Abstract

Marine shrimp production in indoor facilities that utilize Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) have become increasingly popular in the Midwestern U.S. due to their ability to have year-round production. The problem with these inland shrimp RAS farms is that they are located hundreds of miles from the ocean and farmers must create the sea water growing medium by mixing freshwater with specialized, expensive sea salt. Recent studies on Low-Cost Salt Mixtures (LCSMs) derived from cheaper, industrial salt components have shown promise. This study analyzed the impact of these LCSMs on a commercial RAS system using a bioeconomic model. The model was constructed with biological growth parameters and financial and capital costs to obtain a series of financial performance measures. Commercial farms in the Midwestern U.S. provided data to validate the model’s inputs. The Aquaculture Research Center at Kentucky State University provided data where commercial data was lacking. Using Palisade’s @Risk excel add-in, a series of biological and cost variables were made stochastic using the triangular distribution, with the key output variable (KOV) being the farm’s net present value (NPV). Three separate farm scenarios were analyzed: 8-tank growing system, 16-tank growing system, and 24-tank growing system with each farm replacing 100% of their water and reapplying salt after every sixth crop’s harvest. A series of stress tests conducted on the stochastic variables controlling for survival rate percentage, electricity usage, discount rate, and selling price revealed each system’s overall vulnerability to fluctuations in these variables. The adoption of the LCSMs did improve each scenario’s mean NPV significantly. Other inputs such as electricity usage, selling price, and annual survival rates had significant effects on each farm scenario – most notably the selling price. Smaller RAS farms like the 8-tank system are far more vulnerable to fluctuations in the key input variables in comparison to the larger farms. The study found that scaling up in size and the increased adoption of LCSMs can help reduce the overall risk for RAS shrimp farms.

Degree

M.Sc.

Advisors

Quagrainie, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Agriculture|Marketing|Agronomy|Aquatic sciences|Biological oceanography|Energy|Finance|International Relations|Microbiology|Pharmaceutical sciences

COinS