There is now a domestic alternative to the unsustainable (red-ranked) international farmed shrimp. FishWise recently wrote a report ranking domestic farmed shrimp that resulted in green (best choice) and yellow (good alternative) rankings for closed recirculating systems and open systems, respectively. An extensive article on farmed shrimp just came out in the January 2010 Seafood Business Magazine.

Farmed shrimp are typically either Pacific White Shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) or Black Tiger Shrimp (Penaeus monodon). Thailand leads the exporters, providing 287.1 million pounds to the US, followed by Indonesia, Ecuador, China, Vietnam, Mexico, India, and Malaysia. Unfortunately, imported farmed shrimp is ranked red, or unsustainable, due to several factors including high resource use and poor management.

A new alternative to the red international farmed shrimp resulted from a FishWise and Monterey Bay Aquarium report on domestic farmed shrimp. Most of the farmed shrimp industry in Texas is now ranked yellow, or a "Good Alternative" as they use open systems with regular water exchange. Green, or "Best Choice" farms use closed, recirculating systems and inland ponds. The Monterey Bay Aquarium will be releasing reports on farmed shrimp from Thailand and Mexico early in 2010 and reports on Ecuador, Indonesia and Vietnam will follow.

Sources of domestic farmed shrimp: Woods Fisheries, Marvesta Shrimp Farms, Desert Sweet Shrimp, and Green Prairie Aquafarm.

To read the full domestic farmed shrimp report, click here.