美国推广槽式海水养虾

     波士顿南方、远离熙来攘往的波士顿港，半导体设计师川恩在麻州斯托顿小镇的仓库里孵育一种难以想像的产品：虾。

　　

　　川恩两年前开设Sky8养虾场，是美国越来越多的小型高科技养虾场场主之一，他们正忙着满足全美对於虾这种有壳水产似乎永难餍足的胃纳，而且不破坏环境，不用有害化学物，也不仰赖被控侵害劳工权益的国外供应商。

　　

　　川恩说：“想要继续以现行方式取得虾子，是不切实际的。”他在越南的亲人至今还以传统方式在滨海地区养虾，那种方式多半造成环境、食物安全及劳工问题。但在麻州斯托顿，虾子在装了循环、过滤及温控系统的玻璃纤维槽中长大。

　　

　　美国人爱吃虾，2002年虾超越罐头鲔鱼，成为全美人均摄食量最高的海鲜。

　　

　　目前美国多数的虾都由拉丁美洲及东南亚养虾场进口，环境及人权专家已指出，那些养虾场的劳工权益受损、工作环境有危险、养殖方法破坏生态系统，且使用荷尔蒙及抗生素。去年起，一种细菌性疾病袭击亚洲及墨西哥养虾场，重创虾产量。最近有新闻报导指称，泰国养虾场在供应养虾鱼饲料的船只上使用奴工。

　　

　　捕虾也碰到问题。全球虾数量拉警报。中国大陆曾是虾只出口大国，现在为了因应国内日益扩大的需求，已改而进口虾。在研究显示过度捕捞及海洋暖化导致海虾产量出现新低後，美国主管当局取消了今年的缅因湾捕虾季。

　　

　　这些日益沉重的问题造就了川恩这样的新生代虾农。虽然尚无正式统计数据，但提供养虾业者设备及专门技术的RDM水产公司表示，美国小型室内养虾场的数量，过去五年间已从2家跃升为至少22家，另有数十家等着开张。

　　

　　美国加州蒙特利湾水族馆极具影响力的海鲜观察计画，把这种槽式养虾场养出的虾，列为可永续养殖或捕捞的顶级海鲜。该馆水产研究经理布里狄森说：“我们看到一些较新的养虾场出现，采行封闭式的密集养虾方式，那肯定有市场。”

　　

　　美国政府及业者正力图提高水产养殖业的地位，并扭转人们对养殖海鲜的恶劣印象，养虾业这股新潮流遂应运而生，民众之所以印象恶劣，与养殖海产引发过一些争议不无关系。

　　

　　联合国粮农组织统计，全美2011年养殖水产产量，占全球总产量的0.8%。渔业官员估计，如果把美国养殖水产量加倍，可创造5万个工作机会，且为养殖业者带来10亿美元以上的营收。

　　

　　Sky8养虾场有四名工作人员，该公司以鱼、海藻及海草为饲料，约费时三个月才能把四万尾虾苗培育到零售业者及餐馆喜欢的成虾大小。该公司以水槽养虾，使用大西洋的海水，加以过滤并循环使用。虾只安全的主管机关美国食品药物管理局去年所做的检测显示，Sky8养虾场不用抗生素、荷尔蒙、杀虫剂，这些养殖虾从Sky8外流且危害野生虾的风险微乎其微。

　　

　　如此注重细节成本自然也高。川恩每个月供应当地高端买家最多600公斤的鲜虾，每公斤售价34美元（约台币1000元），差不多是进口冷冻虾的两倍价格。尽管如此，川恩说，Sky8现在供不应求，他说：「我们极需扩充产能。」

　　

　　渔业贸易期刊《暗潮新闻》的数据显示，今年第一季美国进口虾的平均价格比去年高了45%。

　　

　　在印第安纳州，卡拉妮亚．布朗和她的先生从2009年起就一直在养虾，藉此贴补种植玉米及大豆的收入。她还在一间大谷仓里开课，传授有关虾的养殖、财务安排及行销的课程。

　　

　　他们的RDM水产公司迄今已经协助14家养虾场顺利开业，场主有农民、银行家、电话技师及前殡仪馆主任。卡拉妮亚说，在接下来的一年中，至少还有六家养虾场会开张。

　　

　　卡拉妮亚说：“美国有能力自行养虾时，就不应该进口。我们的虾那麽新鲜，出货时虾脚都还在动呢。”

 

       英文原版：

　　

　　Shrimp’s Path to Plate May Begin in a Tank

　　

　　STOUGHTON, Massachusetts — In a warehouse south of Boston, away from the city’s bustling harbor, James Tran, a semiconductor designer, is incubating an unlikely product: shrimp.

　　

　　Mr. Tran, who started Sky8 Shrimp Farm two years ago, is one of a growing number of small, high-tech shrimp farmers in America racing to feed the country’s seemingly insatiable appetite for the shellfish, without ravaging the environment, using harmful chemicals or depending on overseas suppliers accused of labor rights violations.

　　

　　“To go on getting shrimp the way we have is wishful thinking,” Mr. Tran said . His extended family in Vietnam engages in traditional coastal shrimp farming, the kind often linked to environmental, food safety and labor troubles. But here, shrimp mature in fiberglass tanks fitted with recirculation, filtration and temperature control systems.

　　

　　Americans love shrimp, which overtook canned tuna as the most-consumed seafood per capita in 2002.

　　

　　Most of the shrimp the United States imports comes from farms in Latin America and in Southeast Asia, where environmental and human rights experts have identified labor rights abuses, hazardous working conditions, damage to ecosystems and the use of hormones and antibiotics.

　　

　　Since last year, a bacterial disease has hit shrimp farms across Asia and Mexico, crippling shrimp production. Recent news reports have alleged the use of slave labor on boats that supply fish meal for shrimp farms in Thailand.

　　

　　Shrimp fishing, too, has run into problems. Stocks are under pressure across the globe. China, once a major shrimp exporter, now imports shrimp to meet growing demand. American regulators called off this year’s Gulf of Maine shrimping season after research suggested that overfishing and warming waters had driven shrimp stocks to new lows.

　　

　　Those mounting concerns are spurring a new generation of shrimp farmers, like Mr. Tran .

　　

　　Though official statistics are not yet available, the number of small indoor shrimp farms in the United States has grown from just two to at least 22 over the last five years, with dozens more in the pipeline, according to RDM Aquaculture, which provides equipment and expertise to shrimp farmers.

　　

　　The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s influential Seafood Watch program gives shrimp from these tank-based farms its highest rating for seafood that is farmed or fished sustainably. “We’re seeing newer farms come along that engage in closed, intensive shrimp farming, and there’s certainly a market for that,” said Pete Bridson, aquaculture research manager at the aquarium.

　　

　　The new wave in American shrimp farming is part of a push by government and industry officials to raise the stature of aquaculture and reverse a disdainful public perception of farmed seafood, in part because of past controversies over cultivated ocean products.

　　

　　Over all, American farmers made up 0.8 percent of global aquaculture production in 2011, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

　　

　　Fisheries officials estimate that doubling American aquaculture production could create 50,000 jobs and more than $1 billion in revenue for farmers.

　　

　　At Sky8 Shrimp, run by four workers, it takes about three months to grow batches of 40,000 shrimp larvae, which feed on fish meal, algae and seaweed, to a size favored by retailers and restaurants.

　　

　　The farm uses tanks of Atlantic Ocean water, filtered and reused . There are no antibiotics, no hormones and no pesticides, according to tests carried out last year by the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates shrimp. There is little risk that shrimp might escape and harm wild stocks.

　　

　　That attention to detail comes with a cost. Mr. Tran ships as much as 600 kilograms of fresh shrimp a month to local high-end buyers at $ 34 a kilogram, as much as twice the price to consumers of imported frozen shrimp . Still, he says Sky8 is struggling to meet demand . “We desperately need to expand capacity,” he said.

　　

　　The average price of shrimp imported into the United States during the first quarter of the year was 45 percent higher than last year, according to data carried by the trade journal Undercurrent News.

　　

　　In Indiana, Karlanea Brown and her husband, Darryl, have been farming shrimp since 2009 to supplement their income from corn and soybeans. Ms. Brown also run s classes on shrimp farming, financing and marketing in a big barn.

　　

　　So far, their company, RDM Aquaculture, has helped get 14 shrimp farms off the ground, started by farmers, bankers, a phone technician and a former funeral home director. At least six more shrimp farms are coming online in the next year, Ms. Brown said.

　　

　　“The U.S. shouldn’t be importing shrimp when we can make our own,” Ms. Brown said. “We ship our shrimp out so fresh, their legs are still kicking when they go out the door.”

　　

　　联合报 冯克芸译