THE Jamaica Agricultural Development Foundation (JADF) will be expanding its production of marine shrimp, following a major breakthrough last year into the lucrative hospitality market.

The foundation, which presently supplies several major resort properties and restaurants across the island, also sells limited quantities of the product in supermarkets, through independent distributions.

JADF corporate affairs manager, Sheila Heaven, who is also responsible for marketing, said: “We presently sell approximately 8,000 to 10,000 kilograms of shrimp each month; and our decision to expand production is due to the positive consumer response and growing market demand for the product. Ultimately, we plan to export to other countries in the region.”

She added: “We believe this sector offers a tremendous business opportunity for the foundation and the Jamaican economy, especially since the JADF is the sole producer of farm-grown marine shrimp in the English-speaking Caribbean.”

Under the proposed expansion programme, the JADF will increase the total land space devoted to shrimp production at its Brampton Farm, in St Catherine from 100 to 300 acres over the next three years, adding a further 130 acres of ponds to the 70 acres currently in operation. This new phase of development, which will also involve construction of a new 5,000 sq ft processing plant at the site, is expected to cost some $10 million.

A joint venture operation with the University of the West Indies (UWI), the shrimp farm was initially established on 35 acres of land as a pilot project in the mid-1990s. The JADF provided the land and management capabilities, while the university offered the necessary research expertise and data collection. Technical assistance, particularly in the freezing and packaging of the product, came from South Korea, also a producer of cultured shrimp.

Initially, the UWI had set up a hatchery at Port Royal, to supply seed stock for the farm, but in the wake of production problems, ‘post larvae’ are now being imported. “By purchasing only from certified hatcheries, we have been able to ensure that our shrimp stock is disease free,” JADF project manager, Noel Thompson, said.

Thompson said the JADF opted to grow marine shrimp because of their firm flesh, taste and value for money. “The meat content is higher, as the tail accounts for two-thirds of the shrimp’s total size, with the head as the remaining one-third. This compares to the fresh water variant, which has a 50/50 head to tail proportion,” he said.

Thompson said, too, that the marine variety is presently grown to an average size of 22 to 25 grams, which is economical to produce and does not require much grading.

The shrimp are harvested after five to six months and Thompson said there was a survival rate of approximately 705. “We harvested based on demand, to ensure that fresh product is delivered,” he noted. Packages are blast frozen at 35 to 40 degrees Celsius and then stored at 15 to 20 degrees Celsius for delivery.

With a harvest of approximately 6,000 lbs from a two-acre pond, shrimp farming is a viable business venture, Heaven said. She noted that prospects for exporting to the United States were even more promising, as demand continues to grow in this market, which is the world’s largest.

“Last year, the USA imported more than 800 million pounds of shrimp mainly from the Far East. Our proximity to that market, and the fact that Jamaica and Belize are the only two countries in this region which farm marine shrimp, are major advantages that we should seek to capitalise on,” the JADF corporate affairs manager said.