The Beginning-Penaeus, Ltd.

I received a comment on an earlier blog from a very polite individual questioning my statement that myself and my team had indeed designed and constructed and tested the feasibility of growing shrimp in raceways 12 years ago in Ocean Springs, Mississippi on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Coast Research Laboratory. 


Without going into all of the details, in late 1997 I was retained by the late Stephen Boynton, a prominent Washington, DC., attorney, and asked to review a decade worth of US Government funded research on shrimp farming and other forms of aquaculture, and to give an opinion of the feasibility of that research being developed into a sustainable USA based business model.


At that time having only a limited amount of experience with aquaculture systems and operating practices, other then all of the negative aspects that had been exposed in the global media, I was actually fortunate to be able to approach the corpus of research with a fresh, non-jaundiced eye. 


Over a three year period and using significant funds from a small company Mr. Boynton incorporated I put together a small team and we explored the biological feasibility of growing very large shrimp in much denser concentrations then had hitherto been attempted in open pond systems. Our efforts were encouraged by the company's directors and funding was provided to allow me to build and operate two basic greenhouse structures with two raceways in each to test the biological issues of that concept.


The aquaculture "experts" I tried to consult with where not supportive so I was left to depend on graduate student assistance, the knowledge of my team members, and my own meager knowledge and instincts. 


The results were so successful that they were featured in a local newspaper and the small company called Penaeus, Ltd., actually asked us to develop a franchise model for expansion.  For a multitude of reasons that company never found the funding to execute the business plan we developed. Upon its dissolution all intellectual property rights (if they existed) were ceded to me in a legal document executed by Mr. Boynton on behalf of the directors.


Obviously, if you have read earlier posts on this blog site you can see we have evolved significantly beyond that early application of this concept. But it was in the years between 1998-2002 that I did indeed learn you could grow larger shrimp, faster, and in denser amounts, then in any open pond technology that existed. 


To the left are a few pictures from our original admittedly rudimentary effort. In the research literature I reviewed I came across many earlier attempts to grow shrimp indoors in raceways many years before we even contemplated the same. 


Though I eventually abandoned the raceway design due to inherent limitations in production given where I wanted to go with our system, you can see why recent announcements of "breakthroughs" using recirculating raceway systems causes those of us who have been at this this past decade plus some amusement given our history.