Joint venture to create sustainable shrimp farming

Billund Aquaculture and Aquapurna have united on a project to create more sustainable shrimp farming by using an automated and tech-driven production model.

As an agritech start-up founded in 2020, Aquapurna aims to "develop the most advanced method of land-based shrimp farming to provide the world with delicious shrimp while protecting the planet."

Billund and Aquapurna have been working together for the last two years on a joint venture to build the next generation of land-based shrimp farms. Aquapurna operates the only R&D centres in Europe dedicated to sustainable and cost efficient land-based farming. Through the venture, the companies hope to improve existing practices and technologies and bring change to the aquaculture sector.

Shrimp farming has, reportedly, had a negative impact on the environment and other species, particularly in developing companies, as reported by WWF. Creating a land-based shrimp farm seeks to reduce this impact.

Image credit: Billund Aquaculture

"The overall problem is that shrimp farming is one of the most, if not the most, environmentally unfriendly way of producing seafood. Comparing the average imported Asian shrimp to that of mass domesticated cattle in South America, the CO2 footprint of shrimp is up to ten times worse than beef," explains Aquapurna's CEO and co-founder David Gebhard.

"This is why we have developed a production model that does not emit pollutants or involve using antibiotics. Ultimately, it's highly scalable and cost-effective which puts us in pole position to transform an industry that's long overdue for change," he adds.

According to Gebhard, working with Billund Aquaculture will facilitate "a cost efficient, RAS-based system for large scale shrimp projects in Europe and similar regions."

The next steps in the joint venture are Aquapurna's plans to scale up its existing hatchery, Lakshimi, where it is currently raising broodstock and shrimp nauplii. On top of this, they will be building a large-scale Lighthouse Project that strives to start land-based shrimp farming by developing a state-of-the-art RAS grow-out unit.

"The technology for land-based shrimp farming is not yet suitable for creating large-scale facilities," says Bjarne Hald Olsen, Operations and Business Development Manager for Billund. "However, we believe that Aquapurna's expertise in shrimp farming, combined with our experience in developing RAS for different aquaculture species will set us on the right path to producing shrimp in a more sustainable way in a very short time."

R&D is the 'backbone' of the project where the companies will be intensifying their R&D efforts to create a market leading technology.

For more information on Billund Aquaculture visit their website, HERE.

For more information on Aquapurna visit their website, HERE.