Local Ocean develops its shrimp production technology with a view to licensing it

Fresh tropical shrimp for upmarket consumers

A Lithuanian company is optimising its technology to start the shrimp farming industry in Europe.

Northern Europe is not the fi rst place one associates with the cultivation of tropical shrimp. And, indeed, there is virtually no production in the region. According to Eurostat, in 2019, Germany was the only country growing Pacifi c white leg shrimp, while some Kuruma prawn was cultivated in France. Th e total volumes barely exceeded 100 tonnes, to which can be added a few tonnes from Greece (also Kuruma prawn) and Cyprus (Indian white prawn). Th is is a mere drop in the ocean compared with the 285,000 tonnes of tropical shrimp that were imported by the EU that year. Th e product is popular, which explains why, even in northern Europe, some companies are investing in the production of warmwater shrimp. Using modern technology and, ideally, a source of warm water, these ventures can defy temperate climatic conditions by growing the shrimp in closed recirculation aquaculture systems (RAS) fully isolated from the weather.

Founders push on despite setbacks

Local Ocean, a Lithuanian company, has launched its production of Pacifi c white leg shrimp for the local market. Th e company was founded in 2017 by a group of Lithuanians and a Frenchman who took up the challenge of growing shrimp on a commercial scale, well aware that success had eluded all the others in the business. Th e shareholders have diff erent backgrounds but are all entrepreneurs and were confi dent that they could make this work. Th is confi dence was not dented even after a massive failure in system design a year later. Today, says Christophe Legrand, who has a background in software and digital marketing, we are in the third iteration of the farm and technology and we think we have fi nally nailed it. With most of the technical challenges solved, the company was just starting to go commercial when the pandemic struck, upending the group’s plans. Th e brand name had not been established, markets had closed, supermarkets were unwilling to take risks on an unknown company in an unstable situation, so it was altogether a severe setback. After eight months of delay the company fi nally began selling shrimps to supermarkets in October 2020.

Th e farm is based half-way between Kaunas and Vilnius just off the main motorway linking the two cities and 250 km from the coast. Water is therefore drawn from a subterranean source. Shrimp are marine creatures and so the water must be treated to match the salt and mineral profi le of the south Pacifi c, the native home of white leg shrimp. Th is includes removing certain elements and adding others and, in addition, heating the water to the 29-30 degrees that the shrimp require. Th is is done using wood chips and is a major but unavoidable cost. Th e current farm is like a pilot, explains Mr Legrand, we wanted fi rst to test the concept to see if it was viable, as we knew that once we had proven the concept then optimisation would be fairly easy. In the fi rst instance we needed to establish something quick and fl exible, and burning wood chips to heat the water met that requirement. Our next phase foresees expanding the farm from 1,500 sq. m to 5,000 sq. m and for that, we will need to consider the use of solar heating, geothermal energy, and waste heat from industrial plants. Th e latter would require the farm to be moved to another location where a partnership with an industrial plant co-generating heated water would be possible.

Christophe Legrand, CEO Local Ocean

The shrimp are grown using biofl oc technology. A variety of microorganisms are present in the water maintaining its quality, providing nutrition for the shrimp, and combating pathogens.

Biofl oc technology is economical but fi nicky to operate

Th e farm uses a unique hybrid RAS system, and in contrast to a system that has biofi lters and UV and ozone treatment for water purifi cation, Local Ocean developed a unique biofl oc technology (a method of producing benefi cial microorganisms). Local Ocean’s biofl oc produces an array of benefi cial microorganisms that plays a role in maintaining the water quality in the tanks, providing a source of nutrition for the shrimp, and competing with pathogens to prevent their levels from increasing to the point where they pose a threat to the stock. New nutrients are then produced from the unused feed and the waste produced by the shrimps and these nutrients are either used directly by other organisms or are converted into new microbial biomass which can be consumed again by the shrimp reducing the need for feeding. Th e action of benefi cial bacteria in the biofl oc keeps compounds in the water like ammonium at levels that are not toxic for the shrimps, so that the water in the system does not require replacement or recirculation (only 10-15% water loss per cycle). In addition to the benefi ts of the biofl oc for the shrimp production, the biofl oc systems developed by Local Ocean also off er economic advantages as they are much cheaper to build and operate than a traditional RAS. However, because the water is a living medium full of all kinds of microorganisms including fungi, protozoans, rotifers, nematodes, copepods, and microalgae in addition to bacteria, it is more diffi cult to optimise. As a result, the water in each tank has a unique set of bacterial parameters and is kept independent of all the other tanks. Th is separation keeps the system biosecure so that in case of a problem with the water in one of the tanks, the issue is confi ned to that tank and is not spread across the whole system.

Both the biofl oc and the shrimps consume oxygen, so the water must be aerated constantly. Th e slightest disruption to the aerating systems can cause mass mortalities so the company has not one but two backup systems to ensure the water is always properly oxygenated. Keeping the growing units independent of each other, allows the company to experiment with the water and the systems in different ways to fi nd out what works best for shrimp growth. Th is has revealed two or three directions that yield very good results with high yields (currently over 10 kg of biomass per sq. m) and low mortalities (less than 25% loss from the post larvae stage). Most interesting is that the limit does not seem to have been reached, says Mr Legrand, so we are still increasing the density and producing more shrimp per sq. m than in the previous cycle, so there is still scope to develop and optimise further. A production cycle takes 3-4 months

The shrimp take 3-4 months to grow to market size but are harvested on demand. Production is currently 2 tonnes a month.

by which time the shrimp have reached a minimum of 17 g. As the shrimp are sold fresh, harvesting is on demand, so the shrimp can spend another 2-4 weeks in the system before they are sold.

Cost effectiveness at scale is the ultimate goal

Local Ocean currently imports post larvae for the production, but the plan is to start a hatchery and breed PL that are optimised for growth in the kind of system that the company is operating. Th e purpose of the company is not to just grow shrimps for the market, but to develop and perfect the technology to breed shrimp cost eff ectively at commercial scale, says Mr Legrand, so the shrimps we produce now can be considered a by-product from our research and development. Once the technology is ready, we will license it to other potential shrimp producers. Local Ocean is not just a shrimp farming company, but a shrimp farming-technology company and the hatchery we plan to build will complement this strategy by off ering PL, that have been specially adapted to grow in our system, to all the companies that license the technology. With his background in software, Mr Legrand envisages applying artifi cial intelligence and other tools to the data generated by the system to automate as far as possible, so that human intervention can be optimised to make the production even more cost eff ective and scalable.

For now, however, the shrimp production is supplied to two, and soon three, big retail chains in Lithuania and talks with upmarket restaurants have restarted as the sector is starting to open up again and chefs are returning. Th e shrimp retail for EUR45/kilo, which is twice the price of premium south American frozen shrimps and liable to attract only the very top end of the consumer segment but, as Mr Legrand says, the shrimp are fresh, healthful, and locally farmed, and perhaps the biggest draw for consumers will be the novelty of eating tropical shrimp with a “Farmed in Lithuania” label.

Local Ocean

Palangos g. 9 LT- 44287 Kaunas (offi ce)

Str vos g. 6A, B bli k. LT-56362 Kaišiadori r. (production site)

Tel.: +370 673 81521 info@localocean.eu localocean.eu

Christophe Legrand: Chief Executive Offi cer Activity: Technology for farming tropical shrimp; Pacifi c white leg production Volumes of shrimp: 1 tonne/ month currently Product form: Fresh Area: 1,500 sq. m, set to expand to 5,000 sq. m in Q3 2021 Markets: Domestic Sales outlets: Retail chains