Saving Seafood

MISSISSIPPI: MSU awarded $1 million NOAA grant to shore up U.S. aquaculture industry

February 12, 2021 — The following was released by Mississippi State University:

Mississippi State University scientists are receiving a three-year, $1 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Sea Grant College Program to establish national economic metrics for the U.S. aquaculture industry.

The project’s lead investigator Ganesh Karunakaran, a Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station assistant research professor, is guiding a team of nearly a dozen university researchers from eight institutions. The research will analyze the economic viability, impact and management measures of the U.S. aquaculture industry to help producers and stakeholders now and in the future. The grant, administered through the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, is one of 12 awarded across the country and part of a $4.7 million investment aimed to strengthen the economics of U.S. aquaculture.

“Our overall objective is to provide basic and comprehensive information about various sectors in U.S. aquaculture. Aquaculture is different from other agricultural industries such as beef cattle or row crops because it encompasses so many species. Production budgets are available for most commodities with the exception of aquaculture, and we’re hoping to change that,” said Karunakaran, who is based at MSU’s Delta Research and Extension Center.

Read the full release here

Flavor gives Mississippi wild-caught shrimp competitive advantage

July 8, 2016 — BILOXI, Mississippi — Better flavor gives Mississippi wild-caught shrimp a competitive advantage over imported and pond raised shrimp, experts say.

Dave Burrage, Mississippi State University Extension Service fisheries specialist, said in a news release Thursday consumers who participate in blind taste tests tend to prefer the taste of wild-caught Gulf shrimp over that of pond-raised, imported products.

“Fresh Gulf shrimp get their distinctive flavor from their natural diet, as opposed to the artificial feed given to shrimp raised in captivity,” Burrage said. “If you have ever stood on the beach where waves are breaking and smelled the salt mist in the air, that is what fresh shrimp taste like.

“Mississippi shrimpers have no trouble selling all they catch, as shrimp continue to be the leading seafood item consumed in the U.S.,” he said.

Ben Posadas, Extension seafood marketing specialist at the Coastal Research and Extension Center in Biloxi, said imported shrimp comprise about 90 percent of the total supply in the United States.

“Imports of shrimp have led to the continued decline in shrimp prices over time, since imported shrimp are cheaper,” Posadas said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at GulfLive.com