UK researchers are working with aquaculture industry players to implement a pioneering project to harness renewable energy technology to sustainably farm shrimp.
The project, led by experts from the University of Exeter and in partnership with the University of Reading and Rothamsted Research, involves 11 industry companies including Sainsbury’s, Seafood Lions and Ixora Energy. The UK Research and Innovation Agency (UKRI) has allocated £2m to the project as part of the UK Food Systems Strategic Priorities Fund (SPF) Transformation Programme.
The project is called the UK Onshore Aquaculture Transformation Project: Integrating Sustainable Shrimp Production into the Changing Agricultural Landscape. Professor Rod Wilson from the University of Exeter’s Department of Life Sciences is leading the project, alongside researchers including Professor Ian Bateman from the University of Exeter’s Institute for Land, Environment, Economics and Policy (LEEP).
The researchers plan to co-locate shrimp farming with renewable energy sources at a number of anaerobic digestion (AD) plants operating in the UK.
The research team believes that if just 20% of the UK’s current AD plants were converted to shrimp farming, they could set up 960 shrimp production units, harvesting 5,520 tonnes of shrimp each year. Currently, around 25% of the UK’s warm-water shrimp is imported.
“In the UK, we love eating shrimp (king prawns) as a healthy, high-quality and tasty seafood,” said Wilson. “The aim of this project is to change the way we farm land to integrate indoor shrimp production with anaerobic digesters (AD). Anaerobic digesters take farm waste and convert it into renewable energy. These ADs generate a lot of heat that could be wasted, but Tropical King Prawn Farms harnesses this heat to make it cost-effective to produce this product in the UK. This means we have better control over the food quality and environmental impact of production.”
The project aims to introduce a risk-free, healthy and sustainable supply chain to consumers. In doing so, it will help to expand this production model across the UK and encourage land-based prawn farms to implement practices that directly benefit the environment and human health.
The project will generate data that will assess the true potential of sustainable prawn production using renewable energy technology, as well as providing essential global scientific support to the prawn industry.
Prawns are a healthy seafood that is high in protein, low in calories and rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids. According to the University of Exeter, traditional production methods used abroad are often environmentally unsustainable, as well as being vulnerable to climate change and disease outbreaks. The destruction of 80% of mangrove forests, which are important for absorbing huge amounts of CO2, is one of the environmental damages.
Some production methods can lead to problems with local biodiversity, as well as the production of shrimp that contains substances harmful to human health.
