Introduction

Sometimes you will want to sell your prawns alive, either at your farm gate or after trans-port to markets and (especially) restaurants. These prawns also require careful, but dif-ferent handling; the techniques are similar to those used to sell other live aquatic products.

You will need to change your holding and transport water regularly to eliminate ammonia build-up. Keep the dissolved oxygen level above 5 ppm with aeration. Prawns to be trans-ported live should be washed in non-chlorinated clean water and then brought to the same temperature that can be maintained during transport to prevent thermal shock through sudden transfer into water of a totally different temperature. It is recommended that you keep the transport temperature at about 20-22°C. Use small amounts of ice, if necessary, to keep this temperature constant. Transport techniques similar to those used to transport prawn postlarvae from hatcheries to distant grow-out facilities by road transport (as

SOURCE: MICHAEL NEW

SOURCE: YANN VON ARNIM SOURCE: MICHAEL NEW

described earlier in this manual) are suitable. In general, restaurants and shops or mar-ket stalls selling live prawns will have aquariums to display them. You are recommended, for best quality, not to keep live animals in these aquaria for more than five days before sale and consumption.

7.3 Code of practice for harvesting, processing and handling prawns

Detailed technical guidelines and essential requirements for the harvesting, processing and handling of prawns, which apply both to those that are caught from open waters or obtained through farming, is contained in the relevant international code of practice, which is continuously updated (FAO/WHO 2001).

C H A P T E R 7

CHAPTER

THIS TOPIC WAS NOT DEALTwith in the original FAO manual on freshwater prawn farm-ing but it is hoped that its inclusion in this new manual will be useful. The information presented has been derived from Phillips and Lacroix (2000).

For marketing purposes harvested prawns are sometimes divided into a number of groups:

large or ‘bull’ males (including both BC and large OC);

small males (SM) which are mostly not seen until the drain harvest takes place, unless they are trapped by the seine;

egg-bearing (berried) females;

immature or spent females;

soft shelled (newly moulted) prawns; and

‘terminal growth’ prawns.

Good quality harvested prawns have a greenish or bluish tint with bright blue or orange chelipeds (claws).

8.1 Marketing your freshwater prawns alive

Marketing prawns alive will usually generate a better price for you but, of course, increas-es your costs. Marketing them succincreas-essfully in this way depends on your ability to keep them alive during transport and display, and to present undamaged, healthy prawns in an attractive way. Good survival of adult freshwater prawns can be achieved during journeys of up to at least 24 hours at a density of 600 g/L with good aeration, without any visible deterioration in their quality. It is best to transport the prawns on shelves stacked verti-cally within the water column; this helps to avoid mortalities caused by crowding, as well as maintaining better localised water quality. Cool transport (20-22°C) minimizes water quality problems and reduces the activity of the prawns, thus lessening the likelihood that there will be injuries due to combat. The use of hard water tends to stabilize the pH, thus reducing the toxicity of any ammonia that builds up during transport.

Marketing

8

F R E S H W A T E R P R A W N S

Once the prawns arrive at the point of sale (e.g. restaurant, market) they can be maintained fairly densely packed in aquariums with a good biofilter. In some places, spe-cialist firms collect live prawns from various farms, using small pickups with tanks and aeration devices. They may also buy, at a lower price, fresh (chilled) prawns. Another alter-native is for you to join with other farmers to form a cooperative for this purpose. The key to success is to adapt to the needs of the local market in order to secure the highest income.

In some places, small prawns can be sold as bait to fishermen; in others there is a recre-ational fee fishing (angling) market for live prawns themselves. In yet others there is an opportunity to sell live animals for home aquaria and for instructional use in schools.

Caution must be used in areas where Macrobrachium rosenbergii is not indigenous, how-ever, to ensure that they do not escape and endanger local fauna.

8.2 Marketing your freshwater prawns fresh or frozen

Prawns can be sold fresh (chilled) if they are going to be consumed within 5 (preferably 3) days. The way to ensure that your chilled prawns are of the best quality has been explained earlier in this manual.

Prawns which are not expected to be sold within 3 days should immediately be frozen. Freezing should take place when they are fresh, not after they have been on ice for several days. Frozen tails have a longer shelf life than whole prawns. Whole frozen fresh-water prawns will turn ‘mushy’ if they are frozen and held above -20°C, or if they are thawed and refrozen. It is recommended that prawns to be stored for long periods be held at -30 to -35°C. Tails which are frozen in ice blocks may be stored for over a year and still be very satisfactory, although a maximum of six months is recommended. Glazing or vac-uum packing significantly prolongs the useful life of frozen prawns. While vacvac-uum packing requires elaborate processing facilities, not available to small farms, glazing is quite sim-ple: a very thin mixture of syrup and water prevents oxidation. If you are marketing frozen prawns, whether they are sold whole or as tails, the ideal is to sell them within a three month period. This can be achieved, if your farm is geared properly to your market (when and where will the product be required, and in what quantity). Good record keeping will help you to develop an efficient farm management system, based on past experience. If you are selling prawns to restaurants you may find it useful to provide them with advice on how to ensure that they are consumed at their best quality (Table 20).

A high quality image can be established if you begin by selling at high prices to expensive and well-respected restaurants. These tend to demand high quality, which can help you to develop good products. Selling prawns to high-quality restaurants requires more effort for a new farm but it will pay off in the long term. Going for this market and establishing your quality image first enables you to obtain higher price levels when you start selling larger quantities of prawns.

8.3 Marketing your freshwater prawns at your farm gate

You may want to sell your prawns on your farm or at your ‘farm gate’, or even along the roadside. Usually, prawns sold in this way are marketed whole and fresh (chilled). This is a particularly sensible way to market at least some of your harvest, especially if your farm is situated on a busy road or near a tourist site. You can sell prawns at lower prices than people can buy them in shops or markets but at prices greater than you would get if you sold them to a retailer. If your farm is large enough, or you can obtain prawns from neigh-bouring farms, it may be worth building your own prawn restaurant.

Advertize your prawns (and/or your restaurant) with roadside signs, such as flags, balloons and banners (Figure 99), and make the prawns available at times when the great-est number of people pass by your farm. You could open up every day, or advertize that you were (for example) open every Thursday. You may find it worth buying in farmed fish (or perhaps you produce these as well as freshwater prawns) for resale in order to make your roadside stand more useful to the customers. Roadside sales are the most profitable and are paid for mostly in cash. Tell people how to store and cook what they buy. The sale of other items, such as T-shirts, caps, handicrafts, etc., may provide additional income.

If your farm is large you may find it useful to offer prawns at a discounted price to your labourers; this discourages theft. However, the price must not be so far below normal market price that you end up providing your labourers with an incentive to buy larger quantities than they need, so that they can resell them!

Another marketing idea worth thinking about is to make your farm a tourist attrac-tion. Many people are very interested in aquaculture and would enjoy visiting your farm.

If you do this, make sure that visitors cannot interfere with farm operations. Several farms in the French West Indies offer tourists the opportunity to buy freshwater prawns and to visit the farms and test Caribbean traditional recipes in a restaurant located nearby.

If you do decide to sell all or part of your prawns at the farm, or by taking your own stand at a local market, it is very important that you should ensure that you do not damage the consumer image of your product. The prawns must not only be obviously clean and attractive looking but also be chilled or frozen

General recommendations to restaurants and consumers