Floribbean Fare - A culinary fusion of the Caribbean and Deep SouthA culinary fusion of the Caribbean and Deep South

To continue what I started a year and a half ago, wild shrimp and farm raised shrimp definitely taste different. You have to understand that whatever a shrimp eats in it’s environment it tends to influence their body chemistry and thus the taste. It’s very similar to grass fed cattle and grain fed cattle. Grass fed beef is usually found in fast food where as grain (corn) fed beef is found in white linen steakhouses.

Shrimp are scavengers just like crabs feeding off of just about anything that comes their way. In the wild they eat what they can find and because of this their body chemistry is normal just like nature intended. In a farm, shrimp eggs are thrown into a pond and are allowed to grow under controlled conditions. When a certain size is reached they are transferred to a grow out pond where they put on weight and size. All throughout this time they can be fed a variety of different things depending on the farm itself. Some feed grain, some vegetation. In my travels I’ve seen one Central American farm, which also raised chickens, feed their shrimp by laying chicken wire over the top of the pond, feeding the chickens and allowing them to defecate in the water below. The shrimp ate the feces. Tasty, huh?

Then there is the aspect of disease. In the wild, shrimp have their natural immune systems take care of whatever comes their way in their normal environment. In a controlled atmosphere like a pond, farmers have to maintain strict control over the shrimp’s environment. Crabs can cross levees into the ponds and are known carriers of White Spot and Tau Virus which can kill off the entire shrimp stock in a pond within days. Harmless to humans these diseases are financially catastrophic for farmers so they must be dealt with. Thus, they flood the ponds with antibiotics to prevent disease from braking out. At last check, the FDA has not ruled whether or not these antibiotics ingested by farm raised shrimp are hazardous to humans. Europe and Canada maintain strict inspections on farm raised shrimp with limits on how much antibiotic is found within the shrimp meat. The U.S. maintains no such inspection.

Then there is the environment to consider. Farmers will tell you that farming is the best way to maintain supplies for shrimp for the demand seen worldwide. While this is true to some extent what farmers will not tell you is that in some instances mangroves, wetlands and other environments are completely destroyed to make room for huge shrimp farms which take up countless acres to dig the many ponds needed to grow them. The runoff water from the ponds after shrimp are grown and harvested can also be detrimental as it’s usually full of antibiotics, decayed feed and chemicals and salts that maintain proper water and pH levels.

Trawling for shrimp can devastate the seabed as shrimp nets catch any and everything that cross their path. If you’ve ever seen seagulls flying behind a shrimp boat it’s because they are shoveling over the side by-catch. By-catch is basically anything that isn’t a shrimp. hey can also catch sea turtles which are endangered. But their are protective measures in place to help reduce the by-catch amount and eliminate the catch of sea turtles. And National Marine Fisheries - a U.S. government department that monitors commercial fishing - steadfastly works on preserving the species so that it will not over fished.

All in all, I suggest when you got to the store the next time, look for Blue Tiger Shrimp (or Prawns) frozen in bags. Then also ask if they have wild shrimp from the U.S. Buy a small batch of both, take them home and boil them. Then have a small taste test with your family. I think you will find that the farm raised shrimp are generally tasteless where as the wild shrimp tastes, well, like shrimp.