A shrimp harvest and transportation method to a processing plant or to the market will determine the quality of the shrimp being sold. One common problem for shrimp farmers and traders is how to move (transport) harvested shrimp without causing death. Quite understandably, the death rate of shrimp in the process of moving or transporting will certainly affect the profit since the price of dead shrimp is lower than that of live shrimp.

This transport problem has been seen by Dr Sam Herodian as an opportunity to develop a tool to faint shrimp. "Initially, the idea was how to transport shrimp alive without the use of water," said Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) to Trobos Aqua.

According to Sam, the transport method using water will add to the weight of the packaging, which means the additional cost of shipping. However, with a special tool the additional cost is no longer necessary because the tool is capable of fainting shrimp for 24 - 48 hours without water media.

He said that by using this fainting machine, the survival rate of shrimp during transportation can be higher, even up to 100 percent, than the conventional transportation method. The quality of shrimp is much higher so that farmers or traders can obtain higher selling prices. "So, economically the fainting tool will increase the income of shrimp farmers and traders," Sam concluded.

Last but not least, the transportation system with a shrimp-fainting machine is environmentally friendly because no chemical substance is used during the fainting process. Moreover, it can also be used for various fish commodities.

Selengkapnya baca di majalah Trobos edisi Juni 2012