The Texas live bait shrimp market

Decreases in wild catches coupled with increased regulations have attracted interest in the production of farm-raised live bait shrimp. Recent refinem ents in penaeid culture techniques suggest that the production of live bait is a potentially profitable endeavor. In this study, live bait shrimp deal ers in Texas were surveyed by mail. The return rate was 8%. Returned survey s were found to be from 33 businesses from various locations over the entir e Texas Coast. The information collected provides a small database that can be used to provide a broad and general view of the Texas market demand for farm-raised live bait shrimp. Texas market dynamics were characterized in terms of regional demands and seasonal fluctuations. Most live bait retail suppliers in Texas have been operating for 6-20 years, and during any given year they are able to meet the market demands for two only months. Most re tailers expressed acceptance of a farm-raised product if it was of good qua lity and consistently supplied.