A group of Florida shrimp fishermen are enjoying a significant economic boost after improving the quality of their catches by switching to Prawnfresh Plus.
According to Richard Reid, Dock Foreman with Cape Canaveral Seafood and Wild Ocean Seafood Market, the move has brought tangible benefits by bringing “real savings” for boat skippers, which will now enable the local industry to effectively compete against imported shrimps.
Prawnfresh Plus is widely used in many parts of the world as a safe and effective treatment to prevent the onset of melanotic blackening or ‘blackspot’ in prawns or shrimps. Whilst blackspot is a harmless condition, it does affect the appearance of harvested crustaceans, which in turn can make marketing difficult.
Sodium metabisulphite was traditionally used in the past as a treatment for blackspot, but if applied incorrectly, the fumes can trigger asthma attacks and other allergic reactions in processing operatives. It is also highly corrosive and can cause serious damage to processing and handling equipment, as well as steel flooring.
Richard Reid has only recently started supplying Prawnfresh Plus to three shrimp trawlers based at Port Canaveral on Florida’s Gulf coast - and the boost in the visual appearance was immediate.
Mr Reid says: “Prawnfresh substantially improves the appearance of fresh shell-on shrimp without any of the downside effects commonly found with metabisulphites.
“Prawnfresh Plus will become a game changer for the domestic Gulf Shrimp industry. It dramatically reduces blackspot, improves the appearance and extends retail shelf-life for fresh, shell-on shrimp up to seven days when the shrimp is properly refrigerated.”
According to Mr Reid, after five days on ice in a refrigerated display case, the shrimp were still “shiny, clear and looked like they had just come out of the sea”.
He also expressed another unexpected positive benefit that shrimp freezer boat captains have found. Normally freezer boats must flush and recharge their brine tanks regularly while at sea. That process requires them to flush the brine tank and replace the 17 36kg bags of salt that are used in the brining process at a cost of $10 per bag. But when they soak shrimp in Prawnfresh prior to putting it in the brine tank, the quality of the water is extended for longer periods and does not require them to recharge the system as often.
The next phase is to test how well the head-on and shell-on shrimp hold up after they have been frozen and held for several months.
