CTSA# 113, A Preliminary Business Opportunity Plan for Specific Pathogen-Free Shrimp Culture Facilities in Hawaii and Guam

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One of the most remarkable feats of worldwide aquaculture in the past 10 years has been the huge increase in the amount of cultured penaeid shrimp production. Since 1982, cultured shrimp production in Asia/Oceania (hereafter called Asia) and the Western Hemisphere (Tables 1, 2 and 3) has increased 790 percent. Production soared from 84,022 metric tons (mt) in 1982 to 663,800 metric tons in 1991. Cultured shrimp are an extremely valuable seafood commodity, and while comprehensive statistics on their value are difficult to obtain, their worldwide value during recent years is estimated to be on the order of $3-$4 billion. For example, in 1991 the United States alone imported approximately 225,300 metric tons of cultured shrimp, worth about $1.7 billion [note: Shrimp exported from the principal exporting countries listed are assumed to be cultured shrimp.] (U.S. Department of Commerce,1992). Asia especially China, Indonesia and Thailand has been responsible for most of the increased production. For example, these three countries alone accounted for 67 percent of Asia's 1991 total cultured shrimp production of 522,840 metric tons. Production increased in the Western Hemisphere during 1982-1991, but its percentage of worldwide production fell from 41 percent in 1982 to 30 percent in 1991. While the trend of Asian dominance of cultured shrimp production is expected to continue (Fast, 1992), Central and Latin American countries especially Ecuador, Columbia and Mexico show good promise of increasing their production (Weidner and Rosenberry, 1992).

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