The UK Sustainable King Prawn Project
| Awarded to: | Professor Rod Wilson and Professor Ian Bateman |
| Funding awarded to Exeter: | £2.05m |
| Sponsor: | BBSRC |
| Dates: | September 2022 to March 2026 |
| Website: | https://sites.exeter.ac.uk/kingprawn/ |
This research and business impact project is exploring the potential to create a new, sustainable and more environmentally-friendly king prawn farming sector using renewable energy technology.
The project will:
- Model and commercially trial the production of tropical king prawns in the UK using fully land-based Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS), co-located with sustainable heat sources (e.g. solar, Anaerobic Digestor plants, geothermal) to warm the water needed to grow the prawns.
- Assess the optimal conditions needed to grow the healthiest and most nutritious prawns indoors, in the laboratory and at commercial scale.
- Investigate other circular-economy opportunities to further improve production, boost income streams and improve cost-effectiveness for both seafood and land-based farmers.
- Explore the wider infrastructure needed to establish and support a major UK home-grown king prawn production sector, for example, a UK-based hatchery, workforce training, R&D facilities and public outreach.
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The project aims to challenge traditional methods of warm water prawn production in open air ponds overseas. These methods can sometimes involve environmentally unstainable practices, introduce disease crises and leave coastlines vulnerable to climate change and lead to biodiversity problems through the destruction of mangroves.
The project aims to help position the UK as a global frontrunner in the sustainable production of warm water king prawns, providing a new form of home-grown protein and innovative diversification opportunities for UK aquaculture and agriculture sectors.
The project is led by experts from the University of Exeter in partnership with the University of Reading and Rothamsted Research. It has strong links with 11 industry partners, including aquaculture producers, Ixora Energy, Cargill, Sainsbury’s and Lyons Seafoods.
It is funded by UK Research and Innovation, as part of its Transforming UK Food Systems Strategic Priorities Fund.
“In the UK we already love eating king prawns as a healthy, high quality and tasty seafood. This project aims to transform practices on UK terrestrial farms through the production of home-grown king prawns, using indoor closed-system methods, harnessing renewable energy technologies and integrating circular-economy opportunities.”
Professor Rod Wilson
(Project Lead), Biosciences, University of Exeter
