Presently there are more than 2 million acres of shrimp farms providing almost 40% of the world supply. Shrimp farmed are principally not-selected wild stocks or produced from unselected farm reared broodstock. Little work has been done to selectively breed shrimp for performance in a farming environment. If shrimp can be bred for faster growth, the profitability for farming will be improved. This research is to obtain and identify stocks of Paneaus vannamei, which can be selectively bred for improved farming performance by: 1) screening existing specific pathogen free (SPF) populations to select individuals to establish populations for the selective breeding program; and 2) establishing populations and screening for variations in DNA patterns to identify the stocks. This research has the potential to develop a technical basis for the domestication of penaeid shrimp and provide the basis for more profitable shrimp farming in the US.
