USM lab harvests first shrimp

MISSISSIPPI - University of Southern Mississippi researchers on Tuesday harvested the first batch of shrimp they grew after Hurricane Katrina, and they're considering their own brand that would bear the university's logo.

USM Gulf Coast Research Lab workers at the Cedar Point site packed about 1,000 pounds of shrimp on ice early Tuesday, as they harvested the large tanks at the school's 18,800-square-foot indoor growing facility.

The tanks make up the largest growing center of its kind in the country, USM officials said.

Administrators said the harvest is proof that private companies could grow shrimp the same way.

"What the team has been able to show is really a leap forward in demonstrating the technology that could lead to industry development. It demonstrates industry feasibility," said Bill Hawkins, executive director of the Gulf Coast Research Lab.

Source: The Sun Herald