Hatchery International

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Crym-Agro ramps up shrimp hatchery in Russia 

January 29, 2021  By Eugene Gerden


Crym-Agro recently announced plans to expand its production facilities in a move to provide more active supplies of its products for the domestic and international markets. Company founders, the Shubaev brothers, have also confirmed that the company is looking to expand its hatchery capacity. 

The Shubaev brothers became the world’s only producers to use live feed in their production,  using primarily bloodworms collected in Crimea. According to them, the use of live feed improves the quality of the products with the same costs as conventional feeds. 

“In China, Iran and some other countries, producers cannot use live feed because it is expensive and impossible to get the required amount. They try to produce it artificially. The Crimean Republic, however, is a unique place for aquaculture cultivation, as the local water is very rich in terms of feed. It is presented in the Black sea itself, as well as some major local lakes, such as Sivash and Kirleut,” said Dmitry Shubaev, one of the founders of the hatchery.

Most of the company’s production facilities are located on the coast of the Black Sea, which has the required salinity (17-18 ppm) for shrimp growing year-round. The same can be said for the Crimean climate in general.

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The main hatchery consists of a fry feed laboratory as well as several pools full of phytoplankton, where either young shrimp or their parents are kept depending on the season. Feeding usually takes place four times a day (with the largest feedings in the morning and during the evening) with bloodworms and phytoplankton used as the main feed types. 

The hatchery currently specializes on Vannamei white-footed shrimp. However, Shubaev is not discounting the possibility of expanding to other species in the short-term. 

“Growing of such fries is usually associated with less difficulties for us, as we have been able to create all the conditions for such production,” said Shubaev. 

Currently, the farm employs 50 workers, but there are plans to grow its personnel by four times over the next several years. The majority of the farm’s produce is supplied to the domestic market, and some are exported, particularly to the Asia Pacific region.

 


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