Shrimply Blue:
A Mission to Restore Tahoe’s Lake Clarity
By Madison Schultz, Chief News Editor, IVCBA OUTDOOR ACTIVITY IS CONSTANTLY BUSTLING in Tahoe
communities, and many locals share their outdoor adventures with their four-legged best friend. However, what comes with an influx of human activity, comes with loss of lake clarity. In such a flourishing, dog-friendly community, Yuan Cheng, president and founder of Shrimply Blue has found a way to help restore Tahoe’s lake clarity, while also serving fido his much-deserved treats. “I just finished my MBA program at UC Davis, and for my graduating project you typically work with a company, so I worked with the Tahoe Environmental Research Center,” Cheng said. “The [TERC] said to us ‘there is invasive shrimp in the lake, they’re high in Omega-3, were trying to get rid of them, but what can we do with them?’” After working with five other MBA students and TERC, Cheng and his team came up with the plan to harvest invasive Mysis shrimp, to then repurpose them into healthy dog treats. While just starting out, the small nonprofit is diving headfirst into production, and is already in the process of testing out the dog treats and further analyzing their health benefits; to assure dog owners that they’re safe and delicious for your furry friends to enjoy. The process to harvest Mysis shrimp is completed through mid-water trawling, which is when boat vessels Keys Breeze
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are out on the lake and catch invasive shrimp with a large net off the vessel. The key to harvesting the Mysis is that they congregate mid-water, which allows them to be targeted without negatively influencing other dynamics of the lake. After the shrimp are caught, they would then be sent to a processing facility to be manufactured into the all-natural dog treats that Shrimply Blue is creating. “From a nutritional profile, these [treats] are really what I think dog owners are already looking for,” Cheng said. “On a dry basis, the Mysis shrimp are 58% protein, they’re total lipid content is 22%, and 32% of that is Omega-3.” Though these Mysis shrimp do have hearty health benefits, Shrimply Blue is taking it one step further, and actively testing new recipes as well as curating ways to extend the lifespan of these dog treats. “My main role is to help make the dog treats by creating the recipes, testing shelf-life, and running microbial and quality control tests to ensure that they are safe,” said Bisma Parwez, Shrimply Blue co-founder. Parwez is a fourth-year UC Davis Food Science & Technology student. Parwez and other food science team members have been actively making sure that these treats are safe by running extensive testing to ensure high quality nutrition standards. Parwez said the company is focused on an all-natural product that promotes health and happy canines. Aside from the positive health benefits that these treats have, the mission behind Shrimply Blue is to “Restore Lake Tahoe’s clarity through dog treats.” But, Cheng says, beyond lake clarity, they are also focused on Lake Tahoe’s larger ecosystem. “Tahoe’s water clarity used to be 102 feet, and the latest measurement has declined by nearly 40%,” Cheng said. “Global warming and increase in algae growth are things we really want to avoid moving forward. Lake Tahoe is such an iconic and beautiful lake, and we think it’s important to bring it back to what it once was. It’s amazing that by restoring Tahoe’s ecosystem, we can help the lake almost restore itself and its water clarity – APRIL 2021
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