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New Rota shrimp farm is jumping
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Posted on Sep 17 2008
[B]ROTA[/B]—The newly launched shrimp farm here is literally jumping with activity as its management eyes the pending military buildup in Guam and early talks with wholesale businesses there to bring their crustacean commodity to market.
Opened in July with the help of the Northern Marianas College, the shrimp farm sits on a relatively isolated stretch of land surrounded by farms. Its most prominent feature is the long concrete tank, much like an above-ground swimming pool, where the shrimp are raised. Yet despite its high walls, staff recently had to cover the tank with screens to prevent their harvest from jumping over the side.
“We should have sent these shrimp to Beijing to compete in the Olympics,” said Gus Maratita, general manager for the farm, known as Taga Diversified Products. “We used to find them sometimes really far from the tank. A lot of shrimp were jumping out every day.”
The new barrier for the moment, however, appears to be keeping the farm’s high vaulting stock in the tank but, as if to prove Maratita’s honesty, one still managed to launch itself past him as the farm’s daytime staffer raised a basket from its bottom to check their growth.
Jumping shrimp aside, the new farm has encountered at least one major challenge to its day-to-day operation. Like many businesses in the CNMI, the cost of electricity has hit the farm hard. But unlike some other businesses, shrimp farming requires a 24-hour power supply to keep the aeration pumps that maintain the tanks oxygen level going or the shrimp inside will die. Power bills, the farm’s vice president, Vincent Hocog, said can range in upwards of $700 to $1,000 each month.
However, the farm could stand to see real profits once its first crop is finished growing and harvested for sale. Hocog and Maratita noted their company is already in talks with wholesale distributors in Guam, the nearest market to Rota, and the estimated 2,370 lbs. of shrimp they are hoping to sell could fetch a good price.
But for now, the new shrimp farmers are just hoping their first batch—which are already each four inches in length—will be ready as planned in December and once they restock the tank, they expect to complete a new crop once a month.
“With the economy the way it is, you need to think outside of the box, get outside your comfort zone and try something new,” said Maratita. “That’s what we’re trying to do.”
