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FRANKFORT,
Ky. – Northpoint Training Center inmates dug their
way through solid rock – as officials watched
approvingly. That's because the inmates were
digging ponds on the prison farm to begin raising shrimp.
Inmates
at the Boyle County facility are helping develop an
expanding market for Kentucky aquaculture, said Richie
Farmer, Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture
(KDA).
“Many
state agencies, universities, businesses, and charities
cooperated on this project,” Commissioner Farmer said.
“This shows how different sectors of government, education,
business and non-profit organizations can work together
to create a winning situation all around.”
The
inmates, supervised by officials from KDA and the Department
of Corrections, received technical advice from Dr. Jim
Tidwell of Kentucky State University's nationally pacesetting
aquaculture program. “We have combined our efforts for
the good of these inmates and of Kentucky,” Tidwell
said.
KSU
aquaculture staff advised the inmates on how to proceed
toward what is hoped will be a successful pond-side
sale, now planned for the last week in September.
Jason
Danaher of KSU supervised the stocking of the ponds
with shrimp (actually freshwater prawns). Tilapia, a
“filter-feeding” fish, were added to the ponds based
on KSU research that indicates the two species grow
better when raised together, said Angela Caporelli,
KDA aquaculture marketing specialist.
Tilapia
also holds promise for Kentucky aquaculture. The breed,
rapidly growing in popularity, is now the sixth most
frequently consumed fish in the nation, according to
the American Tilapia Association. The tilapia will be
harvested and sold along with the prawns, enhancing
project revenue, Caporelli said.
State
officials trained the inmates to operate a mobile processing
unit to ready the shrimp harvest for sale. The processing
unit is sponsored by KDA, Partners for Family Farms,
Heifer International charities, KSU, and the University
of Kentucky.
The
late-September pond-side sale at Northpoint will be
one of many that month all over the state, Caporelli
said. Some prawn producers sell their harvests directly
to consumers at pond-side. Other growers have pre-sold
their entire harvest by contract to firms such as Fishmarket
Seafoods of Louisville, a major Kentucky prawn purchaser,
which will process the prawns for retailers and wholesalers.
Producers sometimes also arrange to sell their harvests
directly to restaurants, Caporelli said.
The
joint effort will produce revenue while helping inmates
develop useful skills and productive work habits, said
Dr. Truman Tipton, a veterinarian who manages farm operations
for the Department of Corrections.
--30--
Broadcast
editors: TILAPIA is pronounced
“Til- LAH -pe-ya.”
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