Message from the President
Looking back to 1995 when we first became involved with freshwater prawns, I am amazed at the progress that we have made as an industry in 9 years. The challenges of the future must now be addressed to carry this industry to its true potential. It will take the continued effort of growers from all states involved for the freshwater prawn to evolve from a niche market into a cohesive and viable industry. For those of us who are committed, I am confident we have a bright future.
Profit is a must for any enterprise. Having reached profitable production levels using the excellent work provided by the researchers at the various universities, marketing becomes one of next hurdles. We have an excellent U. S. produced product. Educating the consumer to this is key. Subsequently, as demand increases and markets are developed, availability of product is essential. Expansion of acreage ensuring availability of product and the development of an infrastructure to get the product to market is fundamental. In addition, the exciting new development of a low cost extraction method for chitin is potentially an important new source of income from the prawn byproduct.
The USFPSGA Annual Meetings give new and existing prawn growers an opportunity to become informed of the latest in prawn research. Our industry is fortunate to have innovative and dedicated research groups from many universities. They will be available to answer your questions and hear your ideas for future research topics. The Annual Meeting gives both growers and researchers the opportunity to come together and discuss the vision of the future.
These meetings are so important. I invite you to attend and become involved in helping chart the direction of our industry.
Steve Fratesi
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