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© Kay Panten
Institute of

SF Sea Fisheries

Project

Novel shrimp peeling machine to improve the North Sea shrimp value chain



© Beate Büttner
Cooked yet unpeeled brown shrimps (C. crangon)

Development of solutions for a regional value chain in the North Sea Crangon fishery

The North Sea shrimps (Crangon crangon) caught on the North Sea coast are today mainly shelled by hand in Morocco. We are investigating the possibilities of using a new mechanical shrimp peeling technique for regional processing and marketing of the shrimp.

Background and Objective

The research and development project (R&D) aims to identify possible solutions for a regional value chain and to evaluate them fully with regard to their sustainability (ecological, economic, social) according to scientific criteria and standards. For this purpose, both technical and organizational questions, e.g. regional, automated shrimp peeling using a new innovative shrimp peeling technology with shock waves in comparison to other technical solutions, as well as organizational questions (regarding marketing channels, efficiency of the alternatives or necessary logistics) are analyzed.

Target Group

Shrimp and coastal fishery, professional and public audience

Approach

The research and development project (R&D) is organized in 5 Workpackages:

1. Project coordination and public communication: The Thuenen-Institute of Sea fisheries coordinates the project and organizes project meetings and the cooperation with the project board. An additional task is the knowledge transfer and the publication of provisional and final results.

2. Construction and testing of the new shrimp shelling machine: In this Workpackage the company US Processing Klever will build and test the new shrimp shelling machine. The economic viability of the new shelling technique will be analyzed in cooperation with WP 4.

3. Analysis of efficiency of the shrimp fishery: The department of agriculture and rural development of the university of Göttingen (Prof. Dr. Bernhard Brümmer) analyses the efficiency of the German shrimp fishing fleet. This will be analyzed in the context of a regional shrimp shelling planned for the future. 

4. Economic analyses and diffusion of innovation shrimp shelling machine: The Thuenen-Institute of Sea Fisheries analyses the economic viability of the new shrimp shelling machine. This includes the consideration of possible changes in the marketing of the shrimps (from WP 5) and results of the technological tests (WP 6).

5. Market analyses of regional shelled shrimps: The development of a regional shrimp shelling value chain needs a totally new marketing of the shrimps. For this reason the department of agriculture economics and rural development of the university of Göttingen (Prof. Dr. Achim Spiller) analyses the possibilities for regional shrimp shelling and the possibilities for changes in the marketing of the shrimps. 

Our Research Questions

How could a regional crab shelling be competitive with the previous hand shelling in Morocco?

Preliminary Results

The results will be published or linked on the website of the Thünen Institute by November 30, 2024 at the latest. However, interim results may be available at an earlier point in time.

The results of the project are available free of charge to all companies active in the economic sector or sub-sector concerned.

 

 

Links and Downloads

Our projekt featured in various media, among others in SpiegelOnline, Arte, and OZ.

 

 

Involved external Thünen-Partners

Funding Body

  • Bundesland Niedersachsen
    (national, öffentlich)

Duration

3.2022 - 11.2024

More Information

Project status: ongoing

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