A test batch of 30,000 shrimp is in its third month of growth in a converted greenhouse at Arrowhead Correctional Centre, a minimum-restricted security prison which also houses a tilapia fish operation and a floral greenhouse operation reports The Denver Channel.
The Pacific white shrimp came from a South Florida production hatchery. When they arrived in late July, the shrimp were barely visible.
For a prison-industry business that runs everything from a furniture factory to metal and fiberglass shops and cow and goat dairies, managers are constantly "trying to figure out what we can do" to put inmates to work, said Jim Heaston, agribusiness operations manager.
Thanks to independent contractor Pat Foley, who has been helping with the tilapia fish operation, the managers already knew a shrimp expert who has raised the crustaceans from Malaysia to Hawaii.
Inmates Try Hand At Shrimp Farming
US - Colorado Correctional Industries managers are hoping it does not take a big product to yield big profits as the inmate work programme delves into its newest venture of growing shrimp.
