Saipan Aquaculture to harvest 40K shrimps

Shrimp farming is finally seeing the light in the Commonwealth, with the newly formed Saipan Aquaculture Co. Inc. scheduled to harvest over 40,000 or 1,200 lbs of White Pacific shrimps soon.

The company, owned and managed by Pellegrino Holdings, started in November last year and is the first in the CNMI to focus on raising and selling “specific pathogen-free shrimp.”

Vice president for operations Michael Ogo said during yesterday’s news briefing that the company would put the CNMI on the map in the aquaculture world as a renowned and trusted source of disease-free brookstock and postlarvae shrimps.

Ogo expressed hope that the imminent success of the company would serve as an example to local investors and farmers “of the good things that could happen in the CNMI. Our success simply means that there is hope for the CNMI.”

Currently, the shrimp farm contains more than 250,000 postlarvae shrimps or baby shrimps. These postlarvae shrimps are expected to grow and be sold to the market in five months’ time.

Ogo said the harvested shrimp would be sold at $8 per pound.

Northern Marianas College Cooperative Research Extension and Education Service program director Ross Manglona said that Saipan Aquaculture has turned its “vision into a reality.” Manglona said that what they thought a farfetched idea has finally been realized through the efforts of a local investor. “I’m very proud of the company and I’m proud that NMC-CREES has been part of its stepping stone for the business,” he added.

Manglona said the company would make the CNMI a source of healthy and delicious shrimps, not only in Micronesia but also the rest of neighboring Asian countries.

For those who want to start a shrimp farming business, they can contact NMC-CREES directly. Manglona said the extension office provides free consultation services to assist local farmers.

Milestone

This new venture sets another milestone for Pellegrino, who introduced the bottled water business on island exactly 20 years ago.

While aquaculture is not new, Pellegrino is actually the first CNMI businessman to build a shrimp farm, equipped with facilities for hatchery and shrimp growing.

Located in approximately two acres of land in the inner village of China town, Marianas Sweet Shrimp dba Saipan Aquaculture Co. Inc. houses culture tanks, broodstock maturation tanks, hatchery, aeration, filtration, and power supply, packaging and shipping building, water storage, and waste disposal system.

Pellegrino earlier said the farm would sell the harvested shrimp locally and export the baby shrimps to other growers in countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, India, and China.

“The demand for postlarvae is great worldwide. The demand is greater than the supply,” said Pellegrino.

He cited that a grower in Indonesia needs 6,000 pairs of broodstocks and a farm in Thailand needs four billion baby shrimps.

In the U.S., he said that the shrimp industry increases by 15 to 20 percent annually. The U.S. spends some $2 billion to $3 billion a year on shrimp imports.

Right now, Pellegrino said that he buys his broodstock from the University of Guam. In six months to a year, he hopes that the farm will be self-sufficient.

“That’s the reason why we put up our own hatchery. We don’t want to keep buying from outside. We will supply our own need and we will export postlarvae,” he said.

The company invested over $200,000 in capital for the infrastructure. Total investments would reach up to $500,000 once the business is fully operational.

The farm has three units of circular concrete culture tanks 15 feet diameter each and two units of 30’ x 70’, three-phase raceway tanks. The circular tanks have a combined volume of 16,000 gallons with a projected shrimp annual production capacity of 6,000 lbs. Each raceway can produce annually up to 12,000 lbs. of shrimp with an average body weight of 18 grams.

Pellegrino said he has already made three small harvests in the farm. Harvests can happen every four to five months when shrimps reach maturity.

Meantime, the hatchery, which has two mating tanks, three larval tanks, and 10 spawning tanks, is projected to produce a minimum of 12 million postlarvae per year.
Pellegrino said he learned about the shrimp business from the NMC-CREES’ Aquaculture Program.