Sweet Sound Aquaculture

Did you know you can buy shrimp raised here in Vermont? The VFF was happy to be able to provide an Emergency Loan to help Sweet Sound Aquaculture recover from a recent electrical power surge that caused the loss of their shrimp crop.

Sweet Sound Aquaculture is Vermont's first shrimp aquaculture farm. The farm is located at Nordic Farms in Charlotte, Vermont. They raise fresh, natural, head-on Pacific Whiteleg shrimp for retail (direct from farm, farmer's markets) and wholesale (restaurants, retail establishments). The shrimp are raised in recirculating seawater at their facility at Nordic Farms. They receive periodic shipments of small (post larval) shrimp from a hatchery on Pine Island, Florida. The shrimp are raised in nursery pools for the first month - from the size of an eyelash to about an inch. Then they are transferred to a series of larger grow out pools. They spend another 2 to 3 months in these pools until market size. They are raised without hormones or antibiotics. Locally grown organic grains, fermented with probiotic bacteria (lactobacillus, bacillus sp.), are periodically mixed in the pools to enhance their overall health and rigor.

The shrimp are sold unprocessed, head-on to customers. Vermont Shrimp Bisque is a recent addition to value-added products and is being sold directly, farmer's markets, and retail establishments.

A high wind event in January 2022 caused unusual power surges and interruptions in electrical service that shut down the aeration systems at the farm. The result was a loss of over 600 lbs of shrimp. The Emergency Loan will be used to assist the business to (1) maintain operation during recovery (power, heat), (2) help sustain new crops of juvenile shrimp (hatchery and feed costs), and (3) add additional fail-safe redundancies to the farm (new cellular gateway alert system).