Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation

This capstone project addresses the feasibility of farming the shrimp Pandalus platyceros, by investigating two essential issues: (1) whether the biology of P. platyceros is conducive to farm production and (2) consumer demand for this species. Chapter I examines the biological development of larval spot prawns to assess their survival in captive settings. This study monitors the development of newly hatched P. platyceros larvae until they reach post-larval stage, beyond the critical period. Chapter II consists of a discrete choice experiment based on surveying patrons of specialty seafood markets. Discrete choice experiments are a popular technique for documenting consumer preferences for different product characteristics. Through regression analysis one can estimate the part-worth utilities of each attribute level of a product, assigning a value to different characteristics. Arranging these characteristics in new ways can predict the cumulative willingness to pay (WTP) for a previously un-marketed product (ie a locally farmed, native shrimp). Through assessing the response of P. platyceros in culturing environments and determining a WTP for such a product, this study strives to determine if farming this species can be biologically and economically feasible. This methodology can be used as a framework for future research, including surveying broader market bases, exploring different product attributes, and investigating more detailed biological parameters for growing a new species for market.