Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Report

Every once in awhile we will go in to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch web site to check and see where we will stand as far as their recommendation for shrimp consumption goes.  This is as far as for the environment and for the health of you and I is concerned as well.
Today we have posted the page from the section for U.S. Farmed Shrimp.  We are proud of the fact that we will be in their "Best Choice" category, but when you get past the chart to the consumer notes, the first line you will see is "For the most sustainable product, look for shrimp raised in fully recirculating systems or from farms located inland using tanks or ponds."  We are quite proud of the fact that we are going to be a sustainable product where our shrimp will be raised in fully recirculating systems.

Yet even with recommendations like these there are still those (in the financial world primarily) that can't possibly imagine that recirculating farming facilities can be productive, or produce a shrimp that has a taste close to that of an ocean shrimp.

If we think about that for a moment, the water the shrimp are going to be raised in will have the same salinity as the ocean.  The food will actually be healthier than what they are eating in the ocean if you think of the fact that shrimp are bottom feeders.  Our water is clean and remains that way where as the water our shrimp is currently coming out of, either from the ocean or ponds is more likely going to be polluted in one way or another.

So they may be right.  The taste may be different.  It may be different in a good way wouldn't you think?   A healthier diet, a healthier environment, yet still the same salinity as what their wild raised cousins are living in?

So take a look at the chart and keep reading.  We hope that you will continue to support us and you know as usual we are currently still looking for investors.

We appreciate all of your support.
Scott

SHRIMP SEAFOOD RATING MARKET NAMES WHERE CAUGHT HOW CAUGHT Freshwater Prawn Giant River Prawn, Malaysian Prawn U.S. Farmed Northern Shrimp Bay Shrimp, Cocktail Shrimp, Salad Shrimp, Ebi U.S., Canadian Atlantic Wild-caught Pink Shrimp Bay Shrimp, Cocktail Shrimp, Ocean Shrimp, Salad Shrimp, Ebi Oregon Wild-caught Rock Shrimp Rock Shrimp U.S. Wild-caught Shrimp Brown Shrimp, Pink Shrimp, Rock Shrimp, White Shrimp, Ebi U.S. Gulf of Mexico, U.S. South Atlantic Wild-caught Shrimp Black Tiger Shrimp, Tiger Prawn, White Shrimp, Ebi Imported Farmed in Open Systems Shrimp Black Tiger Shrimp, Tiger Prawn, White Shrimp, Ebi Imported Wild-caught Shrimp Pacific White Shrimp, West Coast White Shrimp, Ebi U.S. Farmed in Fully Recirculating Systems or Inland Ponds Shrimp Pacific White Shrimp, West Coast White Shrimp, Ebi U.S. Farmed in Open Systems Shrimp Pacific White Shrimp, West Coast White Shrimp, Ebi Thailand Farmed in Fully Recirculating Systems Shrimp Pacific White Shrimp, West Coast White Shrimp, Ebi Mexico Farmed in Open Systems Spot Prawn Prawn, Spot Shrimp, Amaebi U.S. Pacific Wild-caught Spot Prawn Prawn, Spot Shrimp, Amaebi Canadian Pacific Wild-caught SHRIMP, U.S. FARMED Shrimp from U.S. farms are produced under strict environmental laws, making them a better choice than imported farmed shrimp. However, all U.S. farms are not equal. While most U.S. farmed shrimp are a "Good Alternative," a small percentage is ranked "Best Choice." These farms have further reduced their impact on the environment by raising shrimp in fully recirculating systems or inland ponds, away from sensitive coastal habitats. CONSUMER NOTE For the most sustainable product, look for shrimp raised in fully recirculating systems or from farms located inland using tanks or ponds. The terms "shrimp" and "prawn" may be used interchangeably. Shrimp is known as ebi when prepared for sushi. SUMMARY Shrimp is the world's most valuable seafood and the most popular among U.S. consumers. Almost half of the shrimp consumed worldwide is farmed, with the majority from Asia and Latin America. The U.S. produces less than 1% of shrimp consumed by Americans. All large-scale farms require wild fish to feed the shrimp. U.S. farmed shrimp require 1.35 pounds of wild fish per pound of shrimp produced. The larger the shrimp, the more wild fish feed is required for it to grow. Pollution, disease and escapes from shrimp farms are all concerns, but U.S. shrimp farmers have begun to address these problems. Farms that use fully recirculating systems and those located away from the coast don't release effluent into sensitive ocean habitats. By treating and recycling the water or using it for agriculture, these farms reduce pollution and lower the risk of escapes and disease transfer to wild stocks. Unfortunately, the majority (87%) of shrimp farms are located in or near coastal waters and openly release effluent. This can impact natural habitat and increase the risk that the shrimp, and any disease they carry, may escape and impact wild populations. Look for shrimp or prawns raised in fully recirculating systems or inland ponds as a "Best Choice." If you can't confirm this, assume the shrimp is farmed in an open system and is a "Good Alternative." U.S. farmed shrimp is also a much better alternative for consumers concerned about the bycatch of seahorses, sea turtles, fish and invertebrates that occurs in warmwater shrimp fisheries.Scientific Reports About Our Ratings U.S. Farmed Shrimp Seafood Watch Report Print a pocket-size Seafood Watch guide to take with you. Download a guide now Mobile phone users log on to mobile.seafoodwatch.org. iPhone and iPhone touch users, you can get the most up-to-date Seafood Watchrecommendations on your iPhone or iPod touch. How fish are caught or farmed makes a difference. Learn more

Are you that one company.....

and no we aren't.

If you aren't sure what we are talking about yet, let me enlighten you.  If you type the wrong series of words into a search bar, you may come up with a company in Loveland Colorado by the name of Rocky Mountain Shrimp.  This is who we would be referring to.  And no, we are not them.

Why am I so emphatic about this?  It depends on who is asking.  For the normal person on the street it probably doesn't matter much other than the fact that for the information you can find on them, they would wonder why we are attempting to try to start an indoor shrimp farm here in the Fort Collins area.  If you are a company that we would like to do business with, and you look them up, you might wonder the same thing, and if you go by the power point type presentation they have listed on line, you are probably going to wonder why (if you think we are them) we have been around for the last 4 years, we are producing  around 4000+ shrimp a month and you have never heard about us until now.  And lastly, if you are someone that we are wanting to fund us, private or banking wise and you type in the wrong search words and get Rocky Mountain Shrimp, and then do a search through the state, unless something changed just recently you will see that their LLC is no longer valid, etc...

So why am I stating this?  We really don't want to have our name associated with their company name.  We ended up choosing the name Premier Rocky Mountain Prawn for the simple reason that prawn and shrimp really are interchangeable.  Prawn are known more for being freshwater, however they are known as shrimp as well.  We put the premier in front of Rocky Mountain to hopefully give people a second chance at getting a general search done and finding us, and not the other guys.

So if you can spread the word that we are PREMIER ROCKY MOUNTAIN PRAWN... not rocky mountain shrimp, we would appreciate it.  From what we can tell there isn't a company in Colorado right now producing 800-1000 pounds of shrimp per week.  When we have checked on them at least the state doesn't know about them, not does Larimer County, Loveland, Fort Collins, etc...

So keep that in mind when you are looking for us.  Premier Rocky Mountain Prawn, not .................

Thanks for passing the word.

Scott

The Local Farmer

In 2005, as a nation we imported $250 Million of produce from Mexico.  I believe we had 1.5 greenhouses to every 1 of their greenhouses.   Jump ahead to 2011.  The amount of produce imported from Mexico was $1.8 Billion and the greenhouse ratio was 3 in Mexico to every 1 in the U.S.

I'm not saying there is anything wrong with Mexico having an economy that is healthy.  And you know, more than likely a large share of that produce is Organic.  We love our organic vegies here in the states don't we?  So we are importing $1.8 Billion in produce from Mexico every year.  How the heck are they getting here?  Trucks of course.  Where ever they are being raised in these green houses they are then put on trucks and shipped across the U.S. one way or another.  So even if they are organic, I am just not sure if it ultimately works out if the carbon footprint is HUGE!!

So I hear that it is just to expensive to set up a greenhouse.  Or the climate I live in just isn't conducive to growing year round.  And I respond that excuses are a lot easier than action.

You can rent a warehouse in your area.  In this area you can get a 4000 sqft warehouse for around $2200.00 a month, and that is with your utilities included.  Suddenly you don't have to have a facility built.  Take classes on hydroponics.  You will find out how simple and inexpensively you can get started.  You don't have to start off with all 4000 sqft.  Do your market research.  I'm sure there are probably enough lettuce and tomatoes out there.  See what else is in need.  I'm not going to spell it out for you, but you can kind of see where I am going.  Grow vertically.  What would amount to 1 acre of vertically grown hydroponic area is around the same as 10 acres of traditionally grown crop.

So if you actually want fresh food at your table, or at your neighbors table, take a look.  You don't have to do this to become independently wealthy, but you can become wealthy within your own health.

Do something for your own environment, your health and possibly for the economy.

A Shrimp "Farm"? Seahorses and tiny lasso's?

I try to use the word farm as much as I can.  I had a friend tell me he just can't get used to the phrase "shrimp farming".  Living here in Colorado when you say farming everything possible can pop up in your mind but shrimp is a hard one sometimes.  He said he envisions little fish riding on sea horses lassoing shrimp to bring them in to take to market.  (There has to be a marketing piece there somewhere.)

So with the thought of shrimp farming being a hard one to capture in your mind, at least here at the base of the Rockies, here are some other items that are currently being farmed that you may have never thought about:

These are salt water types:

*Sea Weed
*Several different sea going fish
*There are companies right now working with raising oysters/clams in large tanks, and are being successful with them.
*Lobster
*Blue Crab
*Coral   (this one really isn't as off the wall as it may sound.  Although they are mainly used in aquariums, it is a great way to help protect natural reefs)
*Algae

There are some odd sounding items on that list aren't there?  Here in the inland areas of the U.S. we wouldn't  normally think of farming algae or seaweed, but there is actually a fairly healthy market for it.  Some of these items are still in the beginning stages of being farmed in tanks, so it would be awhile before we tried them.  Others we could attempt at any time.

For fresh water it is the same type of thing.  There are several different species that can be raised.  Colorado's aquaculture market exceeds $15 million annually.  That's not bad.  Most of that is in trout, but there are other fin fish as well.

When we farm our crops in our raceway tanks we are doing a couple of things for the environment.

1) We are actually using less water than pond farmers.  Once we fill our tanks we don't have to empty them. We are able to continually use the same water, only having to replace the water we lose to evaporation.
2) We don't need to use that much land.  The land we do need isn't having to be destroyed.  Here in Colorado we do require an indoor facility but we aren't digging deep enough 1 acre ponds that we destroy the landscape of the land.  What we would use in 5 acres it is estimated that a normal pond shrimp farming facility could take between 300 and 500 acres to accomplish the same thing.
3)  We don't require heavy machinery to operate our facilities.
4)  In the past where our carbon fuel output would have been quite significant, solar power has made it so fossil fuel use is cut back by more than 1/2.

There are more positives to this shrimp farming at the base of the Rockies   Even if it doesn't involve sea horses and tiny lasso's herding the shrimp in to take to market.  (Still a cute idea)

So just keep telling your self Shrimp Farming, Shrimp Farming, Shrimp Farming.  Better yet:  Premier Rocky Mountain Prawn, Premier Rocky Mountain Prawn, Premier Rocky Mountain Prawn.......

What is our status?

I know that we have several faithful followers on our web site (www.premierprawn.com) as well as those who read our blog on a regular basis.

It dawned on me yesterday that there have to be a handful of you that must wonder if we are an actual company, a working company or exactly what the story is.

So here is who and what we are.  We are a legal entity.  We are Premier Rocky Mountain Prawns, LLC.  Registered in the state of Colorado.  We initially registered in November 2012.

Even before we registered I had started working on my business plan, researching, looking for ways to receive education  etc.. in the aquaculture field.  When I decided I was going to pursue shrimp farming as a business, I decided to register the name and trademark with Colorado.

Since then, with a small break for the holidays, I have been working with the Small Business Development Center here in Fort Collins, writing my business plan, re-writing my business plan and re-writing my business plan.  If you have never pursued starting a business, the whole re-writing a business plan may sound like I'm not quite sure which way is up.  If you have pursued a business, you know what I am talking about.  Re-writing a business plan before you go searching for money is not an uncommon thing to do.

In the meantime I created my website so that I can let people know what is happening and what is coming up.  Let's just say it is an informative site at the moment.

To date I have finally submitted our loan paperwork to the FSA (A USDA program) for them to review and hopefully find that I am suitable to gain their backing.  For lack of a better description it is kind of like an SBA program but for agriculture ventures.  I don't know if they would necessarily agree with that description, but it is a pretty simple way to put it.  They are the backers of agriculture loans. They don't necessarily provide the money.  So they are taking the risk out of the hands of the banks in a way.  So they are reviewing my package right now, and I am waiting to hear what else they need from me.  Once I get that information and get it back to them, then they will go from there.

Once we get approval that they feel the program is viable (notice I said "we get the approval", not if... we'll then find a bank and we'll be set to go.

In the meantime we will keep updating our blog and web site.

We are always looking for investors.  This is a very viable business.  If you or anyone else you know is possibly interested in investing, please let me know and I will be happy to meet with you and give you a run down.

In the meantime, please keep checking back in.

Scott Hays
premier_prawns@comcast.net

You pay for what you get??

About a week ago I was in one of the local stores and as I usually do I went back to see what they had their shrimped priced at.  For their 18-22 shrimp per pound, they had it marked down to $5.00 a pound.  I literally shook my head as in to clear my head hoping that my eyes were just seeing it wrong, but no: that was right, it said $5.00 a pound.  The cocktail shrimp, you know the little pink cooked guys that are just piled up in the front of the case? They were at $2.00 a pound.  Since then I have been making an attempt to every time I drive by a store I will purposely stop and go inside to see what their shrimp prices are.  The highest I have seen them was a store that had previously frozen U.S. wild caught shrimp marked down to $9.00 a pound from $14.00 a pound.

Now, I guess to most people they would just say what an incredible deal.  Well, you are right: it is an incredible deal.  While you are looking at that case at shrimp for $5.00 a pound, here is what I want you to think about.

1)  First the shrimp were farm raised more than likely in Thailand, Vietnam or another Asian country.
2)  Just like here in the U.S., they have a growing season so we don't know exactly when the shrimp were harvested.
3)  Once they were harvested they were immediately frozen.
4)  Once they were frozen, they were kept in a freezer until a freighter was ready to come to the U.S. that they could be put on.
5)  They were eventually put on a freighter.  Now, we don't know how long they were in a freezer before they were put on the ship.
6)  They made their way across the Pacific.  They made it to which ever port they were going to.  They were off loaded, still in their container and had to wait for customs to get around to them.  Still frozen.  Remember that customs has to check out everything that comes off every ship coming into the U.S.
7)  Assuming that the entire shipment of shrimp is cleared to go through, they are then sent to a central ware house where they are off loaded.  And they sit, still frozen.
8)  At that point, major retailers or restaurants or whomever send their trucks to those warehouses and take them to their own warehouses where they sit in a frozen state until they are sent to a more local warehouse or their place of operation to be packaged.
9)  If it is for a store chain, they will then be sent to a local warehouse where the local stores can order what they need.
10)  By the time the shrimp hit the store, we do know that it is at least a 3-4 month process at a minimum.
11)  By this time of the year they are basically dumping everything they have in stock.  It's been in their freezers way to long.
12)  Ask yourself if that $5.00 a pound shrimp is worth it.

I know personally if I went shopping for a rib eye for dinner (my favorite cut of beef of all time), and I saw semi-frozen cuts of rib-eye just flopped on top of each other sitting on ice, and there was a sale price of $3.00 a pound, there is no way in you know what I would touch it.

So remember that just because something is only $5.00 a pound when it is normally $18.00 a pound, it doesn't mean that it always a great deal.

Right now there has been a problem in both Thailand and Vietnam where they aren't able to produce any shrimp at all.  Ok, it's only effecting about 90% of their farming.  Their farming ponds have been dry since around January.  They would normally be full with shrimp in them.  Watch to see where your shrimp are coming from in the next couple of months.  If they are still showing Thailand and Vietnam, ask your store how long ago they were harvested.  It will be interesting to know.

With all of your seafood, know where it is coming from.  Try to buy seafood that is from sustainable sources if possible.  It's not as hard as you think it is.

Organic Shrimp... What's in a word?

I've been asked several times by people if our product will be organic.  At this time, in the U.S., the USDA has not come up with the regulations for a description for an organic shrimp.  Now, that isn't a bad thing, and it isn't that they aren't working on it.  They have been working on it for quite some time.  When you think of all of the variables that could go into this decision you can understand why the qualifiers haven't been decided on.

If you take a look at everything our vegetable and meat products have to go through in order to be considered organic, we can't just put shrimp/prawns into that same type of category.  If we are looking at the pond type farming, we have large open ponds that are around an acre each.  Every year those ponds are drained in the fall, they sit empty for about 4-5 months, then they are refilled with mostly well water in the spring.  So think about what an organic farmer has to do in order to get their land certified as organic.  If I remember correctly, it's about a 2 year process.  It would be hard for a pond farmer to get it done in the same way.  The food we provide would have to be certified.  Well, most of the food we provide our shrimp is about 80-90% grain.  So our grain providers would have to be organic, or you would think.  Then the other 10% that the particular producer uses would also need to be.  But you can see where the USDA is having the problem.

On the other hand, there is an international organization that has organic standards for shrimp.  Most of their standards are how are the shrimp raised, treated.... they can't be sold live, etc...  It is a basis for shrimp being treated humanely.  Please, do not get me wrong, I think this is very very important.  And I think most farmers would agree.  The better we treat our product the better quality we will have.  But does this actually make it organic?

I feel as if I would break my customers trust by receiving the Organic Certification from the International Organization I mentioned.   Although the treatment of my shrimp is important through all stages, I don't know if this is what we consider Organic to be here in the U.S.

But how important is it to have that label for customers?  It doesn't mean it is chemical free as we would expect.   So what is in that name, the elusive "Organic" label that we search out?