News

Florida Monthly - October 2008

Gulf American Shrimp, LLC is a 300-acre shrimp farm located on the old M & K property in the Howard Creek area of Gulf County. Gulf American Shrimp has been in existence for four years and is in its third year of production. The shrimp farm is one of less than 10 commercial shrimp farms in the United States, most of which are located in Southeast Texas.

The idea of shrimp farming began with a group of Japanese biologists who studied the life cycle of shrimp. The biologists came to the United States approximately 40 years ago and pitched came to the United States approximately 40 years ago and pitched their idea to the research development team with DuPont. Although DuPont turned the proposal down, the idea of shrimp farming caught the interest of two members of the R & D team, who then filed patents. In fact, one of the first U. S. shrimp farms was located in Panama City -- Marifarms, Inc. -- which was started using private funds and remained in business for 10 to 15 years.

Mark Godwin, Edward Wood and Buddy Wood are the three owners that operate Gulf American Shrimp, LLC. Mark researched shrimp farming for two years and began to look for possible farm locations before starting their own farm. The M & K property was originally sold to a group of Japanese, Tachikawa International Corporation, who raised catfish and hybrid striped bass for 10 years before Mark began operating the shrimp farm in this location. After conducting his own feasibility studies, Mark used a consultant out of Georgia to confirm his thoughts of developing a commercial-size shrimp farm on this site. Next, they invested in drilling a test well, the only one of its kind in the Panhandle. In drilling the well, it was found that there was sufficient saltwater at 1,000 feet. This was a promising sign that the property was suitable for shrimp farming.

In the farm's first year, Mark developed 25 acres of the property to raise shrimp but did not stock the ponds. The second year, Mark stocked one four-acre pond as a trial run, and things went well. Today, six ponds are stocked, making up all of the originally developed 25 acres. The ponds are stocked in late spring with post larval shrimp from Key West, which is the home to one of two commercial-sized shrimp hatcheries in the United States. The other hatchery is located in Texas.

The ponds are ideally stocked the first week in May. Mark, along with William Raffield, who also works on the farm, must be at the farm at daylight for the first water test and feeding of the day. Several readings are taken to check the quality of the water, making sure that the levels of oxygen and salt are where they need to be. The number of aerators is then adjusted to obtain the appropriate oxygen levels. In the late afternoon, feed is blown into the ponds, and the water quality readings are taken again. The pond's water quality is something that must be carefully monitored. If anything is in question, a third set of readings is taken at dark. Improper algae growth can lead to a pond crashing, which could mean a significant loss of shrimp.

"In shrimp farming there are day-to-day activities that you can't get behind on," Mark said.

Farms that raise shrimp inland are now considered to be more biosecure than those of a coastal farm because the shrimp raised at these farms are not susceptible to contracting viruses that occur naturally in the wild. Farm-rasied shrimp typically allow for more control on the size and expected quantities harvested than shrimp caught in the wild. Something that early shrimp farm pioneers didn't realize was that certain species of shrimp are better suited for being farm raised. and species that may prosper in the wild are not necessarily the best species to be farm-raised. There are two species of shrimp that make up nearly 95 percent of all farm-raised shrimp in the world. Shrimp farmers have always been dependent on research centers and universities to assist them in the necessary technology needed for shrimp farming. Viruses that occur naturally in wild shrimp do not materialize because the shrimp are usually not stressed. These viruses most commonly affect survival and growth rates and have no negative impacts for human consumption. The shrimp used on their farm are certified at the hatchery as Specific Pathogen Free, or SPF, meaning that they have no viruses. If these viruses were to become present on a farm, it could take approximately four to five years to get rid of the virus. Gulf American Shrimp, LLC only purchases SPF-certified shrimp, operates according to the Department of Agriculture's Best Management Practices and is inspected once a year.

The shrimp are usually ready for harvest by the second week of October. This gives the shrimp approximately 165 days to grow, which produces a 15-count shrimp. When it is time to harvest the shrimp, the ponds are drained and the shrimp are pumped into insulated containers holding ice water with a harvester pump. This process starts about an hour before daylight and they are usually through by 2 pm. The shrimp are then transported nearly live to their processing facility in Port St. Joe.

The shrimp are processed at their processing plant located in nearby Port St. Joe, Wood's Fisheries, Inc. Mark's wife Catherine and brother-in-law, Edward, are the fifth generation in the commercial shrimping business, which started for the Wood family in the early 1860s. They are one of the most vertically integrated businesses in the shrimp industry. They participate in the production of farm-raised shrimp; unload commercial shrimp boats; and process, store, sell and distribute shrimp. Because of this level of involvement, it could be considered as six different seafood businesses under one roof. The fishery is under the leadership of Mark's father-in-law, Buddy Wood, who serves as CEO of the company.

The majority of the shrimp processed at Wood's Fisheries are frozen and packaged into either two- or five-pound bag. All are sold wholesale in 20-pound cases. Their specialized freezing process allows for a long shelf life. Mark says that a serious misconception that most people have is that frozen shrimp are not fresh; when in fact, he considers the freshest shrimp to be frozen.

"Our freezing process stops the aging process so that when they are finally used by the end customer, they are the highest quality state possible," Mark said. "There is nothing worse than seeing someone trying to hold unfrozen shrimp too long and sacrifice quality the whole way. Most people, even those that handle shrimp regularly, do not know how to handle a true fresh shrimp correctly."

Unlike most species of fish, freezing shrimp will not affect their texture or flavor at all. Most shrimp that are caught in the wild are indeed frozen on-board commercial shrimp boats, as these trimps typically last for two to three weeks.

The shrimp processed at Wood's Fisheries, Inc. are sold in the wholesale market all over the United States under their brand name Seakist. Some have even by exported to other countries. However, imported shrimp are Wood's Fisheries largest competitor. Shrimp farms in places like Thailand, China and Vietnam can usually produce shrimp much cheaper than they can be produced in the United States. Approximately 90 percent of shrimp consumed in the United States is imported, with domestic wild-caught and domestic farmed-raised shrimp making up the other 10 percent. Therefore, in a commodities market, this limited percentage of domestic supply is really not great enough to inluence the commodities' price. Mark says that he and his family have to continue to educate people about their product through methods like advertising on television stations such as Food Network, cooking and trade shows and facility tours.

"The most frustrating part of shrimp farming is the variables that you just can't control," Mark said. "You just can't fit shrimp farming into a box. There's a lot of educated guesswork involved; sometimes you make decisions by the seat of your pants."

Uncontrollable variables, just as other farmers experience, include the weather; natural predators; limited post larval shrimp suppliers; and rising feed, fuel and utility costs, which lead to increased operating costs.

Outstanding Farm Family

2007 North Florida Fair

Congratulations! You have been nominated by Gulf County Extension Office to represent your area as a 2007 North Florida Fair "Outstanding Farm Family".

Down on the Farm - Shrimp

November 15, 2007 by Tim Croft

Size matters in farming even when the crop is a shrimp.

So as Mark Godwin harvested one of his fields, uh, ponds on a recent cool morning, he observed his bounty with a mixture of pleasure and frustration from another lesson learned. The shrimp spilling from the white PVC pipe into one of eight blue vats atop a trailer were plump and long, the 15-16 count - number per pound - that Godwin set as the goal.

But the yield from this pond, one of six measuring roughly from 3.8 to 4.6 acres and with the sixth yet to be harvested, was not what Godwin hoped. He estimated he would bring 11,000-12,000 pounds to the processing plant at Wood's Fisheries that day. It could have been more, but Godwin points to his hatchlings - his farming seeds, if you will - from the spring which might not have been as mature and hardy as he would have liked.

This, though, is just the second harvest in what has turned out to be a five-year journey to make aquaculture, specifically, shrimp farming, work in Gulf County, an effort that recently earned Godwin and his family recognition as county Farm Family of the Year. Last year, Godwin started with one pond. This year it was six. Each step along the way has brought more knowledge and that, combined with the hard work required of most farming, is critical to harvesting shrimp.

"It is real complex," Godwin said. "A lot of it is a balance between instinct and experience, educated guesses based on what you know from history."

Harvest Time

After spending mid-April to mid-October - the ideal growing season - flourishing in the warm saline waters Godwin has pumped into his series of ponds in Howard Creek, the shrimp are ready to harvest. Each pond is carved into the ground - a unique kind of clay, as it turns out - like a bathtub, a deep end draining toward a shallower end.

The drain in this case is a C-shaped cement block on the shallow end, its plug a line of boards that have been pulled out this day to allow the water to flow through the "drain box." The water travels by gravity and pipe through an embankment into what is a long ditch of water on the other side where it meets a pump surrounded by netting akin to a sock on a foot. The pump drives the water up into what in the Midwest would be mistaken for a small thresher - the machine that removes chaff from wheat, corn from husk, etc. - where water and shrimp are separated.

The water, and each pond holds something along the lines of 1.25 million gallons, is sent back over the ditch to a retention pond where it will gradually evaporate. The total size of the property on which Godwin is working is roughly 300 acres, ensuring that saltwater does not migrate off the site. Meanwhile the shrimp travel down a large-bore PVC tunnel to the set of vats, along with, on this day, a few fat and sassy bream which worker William Raffield tosses into a bucket, destined for his kitchen or grill.

The trailer of vats, once filled, will be transported by Godwin's father-in-law Buddy Wood to the Wood's Fisheries fish house in Highland View for immediate processing. Before he leaves, Buddy Wood will leave behind another set of vats, just emptied at the plant. The pond will be drained of all shrimp - as the water levels go down it becomes a kind of mosh pit for the occasional "shrimp stampede," as Godwin called it - by noon, about six hours after the work day began, as Godwin and Raffield set up the machinery, ensuring no holes in the net around the pump and everything is operable.

Shrimp Farming

Aquaculture and the farming of shrimp is hardly a new trend.

"It's been around awhile. Florida has not been attractive because of the price of the land," Godwin said. The state nonetheless has championed the concept for more than a decade and there are shrimp farms dotting the Southeast, particularly in Texas. The flood of imports that has roiled the United States market in the past five or six years is in large measure fueled by shrimp farming in far-flung locales such as China, Taiwan and Vietnam.

The plot of land on which Wood's Fisheries now operates its shrimp farming operation was once home to a catfish farm operated by a Japanese firm, which made the land extremely attractive to the Wood family when they decided to take the plunge.

The project, Godwin said, started in part out of the need for a new project to wrap his hands around. The family-owned and operated business had, in the wake of 9/11, retooled and enhanced its processing plant and Godwin was in search of another challenge. The question, Godwin wondered, was what was next. "I like a challenge," Godwin said. "My father-in-law has a work ethic like nothing you'd believe. "We feed off each other and it snowballed from there. Put his experience and put the two of us together, it was like pouring gasoline on a fire." The concept, however, proved far easier to identify than to execute.

Learning Curve

Godwin, who possesses a business degree and a drive that has propelled him since he was a self-employed teenager, set to work learning all he could about shrimp farming. "We didn't have a plan, we just went to work," Godwin said. "We pushed and pushed and pushed."

He and Buddy went to Harlingen, Texas to observe an operation there, where the quality of the shrimp and the ease of processing impressed the pair. Another aspect that appealed was the collegial nature of the business, the information sharing among farmers and universities such as Auburn and Texas A&M.

"We decided let's go back and look at it and see if we could do it," Godwin said. "We didn't know anything... And nobody had thought of an inland farm.

"I found that it wasn't rocket science, it was hard work."

There were a few factors working in his favor. The catfish farming operation, long since abandoned, left behind a plot of land that, Godwin eventually determined, could be purchased and it already had much of the infrastructure he would need.

Additionally, the soil he needed, one that would not percolate - called meggett, it is a type of fine clay - and therefore would hold the water without need of any form of lining, could be found in the county, not so coincidentally, at Howard Creek, including that roughly 300 acres on which the catfish farm sat and the Woods would ultimately buy. The project, however, was not without its hurdles.

The first of which was the family getting its hands on the land, which became more dicey as Godwin undertook the necessary first step, a feasibility study to determine that the project had viability. As Godwin noted, the result was a consultant who told him he had the makings of a shrimp farm and a price for the land that was decent and affordable, but not as low as it could have been due to the entrance onto the scene of another potential buyer. In any case, the next major step was determining how best to get to saltwater, the tricky part to establishing an inland farm.

"That was a large part of the feasibility study, could I find saline water," Godwin said.

A 16-inch production well had been drilled just north of the site and transported to the catfish operation through a series of ditches. The hurdle for Godwin was to 1) find the saltwater of sufficient quality and 2) convince the Northwest Water Management District that his project would not further strain the upper, or freshwater portion, of the underground limestone sponge called the Floridan Aquifer.

The problem for the catfish farm was that at 500 feet deep, the water became too salty. So Godwin and crew drilled to 1,000 feet in 100-feet increments, tested and sent the samples off to Auburn. "It was good water, real good water," Godwin said, adding that the production well ended up at 1,200 feet and a salinity level more than two times the minimum needed for quality farm production.

And managing that water, its levels of oxygen and nitrates, the temperature and the level of feed - the No. 2 input cost in shrimp farming - that goes into each pond, was the critical part of shrimp farming. Aerators, like tiny paddlewheels, spin continuously in the water to oxygenate the water, de-stratisfy the water to fight potential algae bloom and to cool the water through evaporation.

Mid-October is the perfect time for harvest because water less than 25-degree Celsius is too cool to facilitate growth. Likewise, if the water is too hot, the algae "go crazy" and growth is mutated because the shrimp will not eat. "A shrimp farmer is not so much a farmer, but a manager of the water parameters," Godwin said. The wrangling with the water management district took almost a year, but Godwin summed up the subject succinctly.

"I told them that I'm interested in building a shrimp farm and the water is the heart of my farm," Godwin said. "I don't want your freshwater. If I get your freshwater, I'm sacrificing my product." Water management district officials signed off on a consumptive use permit.

Local Touches

The Woods use a lower density stocking each pond than what they saw in Texas in order to produce the larger shrimp they seek. Another key is securing hatchlings - 460,000 went into the water in the spring - that are robust, mature and certified as pathogen free. Only a few hatcheries in the country offer such a product. Godwin said this year's hatchlings arrived late and were not of the quality he expected. Looking toward next season, Godwin will seek to secure his "seeds" from Florida hatcheries that will return to business this year for the first time since the hurricanes of 2004.

The Wood's Fisheries strategy is to package and market the farm shrimp differently than their other offerings. They sell the shrimp across the country, especially in coastal areas along the Eastern seaboard. Godwin described the taste with normal or no seasonings as having more texture and being sweeter, less fishy than sea shrimp. The employee, Raffield, said there was little difference in taste with the batch he'd made on the grill the previous night. The farm shrimp provide a critical supplemental supply of shrimp, given the economics of rising fuel costs, finding good help and steel costs which can make a shrimp boat a $1 million expense.

"The days of the simple small fishing families is slipping away," Godwin said. "Boats that are making it now are those where the owners are directly involved." He said after American companies competed head-on with foreign supplies and confused the market for several years, a new marketing focus and a push for Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) is starting to make headway. "All we have to do is, to the guy sitting down and eating it, let them make the choice and the rest will work itself out," Godwin said. "If we can get to that place where you as the consumer are asking for that product, that's what we need.

"If we can't niche market our product then we might was well close the doors and go home."