WEBVTT - Tailing the Giant Tiger Prawn 0:00:09.280 --> 0:00:11.680 Hell no, we can savor prediction of ihearted yo. I'm 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:12.520 Any Reese. 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:14.239 And I'm Lorn vogel Bum. And today we have an 0:00:14.240 --> 0:00:16.759 episode for you about giant tiger prawns. 0:00:18.120 --> 0:00:23.360 Yes, oh, you know we love these seafood episodes. 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:27.040 Oh they're so cool. They're so weird. Sea creatures are 0:00:27.080 --> 0:00:29.960 so strange, and I love them so much. Oh, this 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.320 is our first shrimp episode. We have been so remiss, 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:36.519 but it's fine. It's finally here. 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:39.279 I couldn't believe it when you told me that, how 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:40.800 have we never done? 0:00:41.040 --> 0:00:44.640 Oh, I mean we've done like lobsters and crawfish, which 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:50.240 are not shrimp, but you know they're also little weird, 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:51.720 leggy crustacean buddies. 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:53.520 It's true. 0:00:53.800 --> 0:00:58.360 Yeah, I did have shrimp as pets for a long time, 0:00:59.000 --> 0:01:01.840 and so maybe, you know, like both of us were like, 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:04.720 maybe we shouldn't talk about something that Lauren literally keeps 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:05.520 as a pet. 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:12.960 On our food show. I will. 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:17.440 I lost the aquarium during the move, but but I'm 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:19.720 going to get it back up and running. It is 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:22.120 like on the to do list. It's going to happen. 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:27.080 I'm very excited for more updates about this. I was 0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:30.080 very invested in that aquarium. 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:33.800 And yeah, and more shrimp are coming, so here, here 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:36.000 we go. I just love them. They're so busy all 0:01:36.000 --> 0:01:42.640 the time, they're doing stuff. It's great. Anyway. Note at 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:44.680 the top here, Yes, I said that the episode is 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:48.120 about giant tiger prawn and then immediately started talking about shrimp. 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:50.760 That is because the words shrimp and prawn are in 0:01:50.760 --> 0:01:53.640 fact synonyms. Some people have tried to make them have 0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:57.400 real definitions, but everybody else insists on being real chaotic 0:01:57.440 --> 0:01:58.960 about it. So here we are. 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:02.000 I'm glad you put that note up there, because I 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:05.760 really was trying to make sure I was getting everything correct, 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:11.560 because a prawn, to me, feels so much bigger than 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:12.600 a shrimp. 0:02:14.040 --> 0:02:17.200 See etymologically sure, Yeah, let's go with that. 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:18.000 Yeah. 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:21.560 Like, people are really confused about how this has occurred 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:24.160 because like, like some people are like, well, maybe it's 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:27.640 because the word shrimp also means small. Yeah, and so 0:02:28.160 --> 0:02:31.760 for some people the word prawn means something bigger, but 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:34.320 other people use them in kind of the opposite way. 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:38.280 So we don't know. 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:39.679 No, no, we don't know. 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:49.040 Okay, Well, it is a fascinating episode, complicated in many ways. 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:52.280 The seafood industry typically is. 0:02:53.320 --> 0:03:00.400 Yes, that was an actual crack. You could hear a voice, Yes, 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:04.200 but we have spoken about it before. 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:08.360 Sure, yeah, right, we did do that lobster in that 0:03:08.440 --> 0:03:12.240 crawfish or crayfish episode if you if you prefer, they 0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:18.320 are perhaps the most biologically pertinent seafood episodes we've done. Also, 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:22.400 definitely check out our big fish industry episode from the 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:26.600 Oahu episodes for a kind of macro look at the 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:29.680 complexities of fishing production. 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:35.640 Yeah, yes, which we are going to get into a 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:40.840 little bit. Oh yeah here, but I suppose that brings 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:49.360 us to our question. Sure, Giant tiger prons what are they? 0:03:50.280 --> 0:03:54.000 Well, Giant tiger prowns are a type of crustacean that 0:03:54.240 --> 0:03:57.360 is a leggy animal that wears its skeleton on the 0:03:57.360 --> 0:04:00.240 outside of its body and typically lives in the water. 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:04.800 Giant tiger prawns have long bodies, consisting of a carapace 0:04:05.080 --> 0:04:07.800 containing the head and like most of the internal organs, 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:12.040 and then an abdomen containing a big, fleshy tail muscle. 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:14.800 And this is the part that we humans are mostly 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:18.200 interested in eating. Plus, it's got ten legs on the 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:20.279 underside of their bodies to help them move around. And 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:23.839 grab stuff. Their shell is firm but slightly flexible and 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:26.880 a little bit translucent, sort of like our fingernails. It's 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:30.080 in segments like armor, and can range in color from 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:34.719 rusty brown to gray blue in color, with this characteristic 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:39.960 striping in bands around their tail in contrasting black and white, 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:45.280 hence the name tiger. Yeah, they're called giant because they're 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:47.640 big for a shrimp. They can grow a little bit 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:50.280 over a foot long and like a couple inches thick, 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:53.159 that's about thirty by six centimeters or so, and they 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:55.600 can weigh nearly a pound, like a little bit less 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:59.240 than half a kilo. They can be cooked whole in 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:03.760 their shells, maybe roasted, grilled, steamed, or boiled, after which 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:06.720 they might be served cut open so that you can 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:09.120 pick out the tail meat. You can also remove the 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:11.760 carapaces and legs and just cook the tail portion, or 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:14.559 even just the tail meat. When it's raw. The meat 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:18.040 is slightly translucent white in color with a thin silvery 0:05:18.080 --> 0:05:20.920 gray skin, and when it's cooked it'll go opaque white 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:25.680 with a bright orange pink skin. The tail meat is tender, 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:28.880 chewy like sort of springy or bouncy kind of and 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:32.080 savory sweet and a little rich and briny in flavor. 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:34.920 They're tasty on their own and can be served with 0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:36.760 just a little bit of like lemon juice or butter 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:40.240 and a sprinkle of herbs. But that sweet, rich flavor 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:42.960 goes well with all kinds of sauces or in soups 0:05:43.000 --> 0:05:51.080 or stews. They're big, tasty shrimp. Eating. Eating good shrimp 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:57.280 like these gives me the same feeling as laying out 0:05:57.360 --> 0:06:01.520 on warm sand or like on a hot stone surface 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:06.719 at a spa. It's just the sense of like light fulfillment. 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:18.320 Yeah, good shrimp, good shrimp, right texture, right seasonings. Oh, 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:22.359 it's just it makes you want to be by the water. 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:24.840 Yeah, it's very sublime. 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:32.960 Yeah it is. Well. 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:35.919 The animals are also super cool before we eat. 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:36.760 Them, okay. 0:06:36.880 --> 0:06:41.120 A taxonomical name Penius monodon giant tiger prawns are in 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:43.560 native to the Indian Ocean and warm parts of the 0:06:43.560 --> 0:06:47.400 West Pacific, stretching from like Southeast Africa over across to 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:51.080 Australia and then up through southern Japan. They live near 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:54.599 coastlines at the ocean's floor, burrowing in the mud or sand, 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:57.080 and they're mostly active at night. The female shrimp tend 0:06:57.080 --> 0:06:58.400 to be a little bit bigger than the males, and 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:02.360 they live for about three years. In the wild, they'll 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:06.280 head into like brackish river estuaries to mate and lay 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:10.840 eggs in like calm lagoons or mangrove shelters. I read 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:13.200 that they can lay over eight hundred thousand eggs in 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:13.520 one go. 0:07:15.680 --> 0:07:16.400 WHOA. 0:07:17.640 --> 0:07:20.040 Most of those will not survive, but here we are. 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:23.240 The eggs sink to the bottom and hatches larvae, which 0:07:23.280 --> 0:07:26.640 go through a few metamorphoses while floating around like plankton 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:30.520 until they develop legs. Five pairs of short swimmerrats on 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:33.280 the underside of their abdomen or tail to help them 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:35.400 propel through the water, and then on the underside of 0:07:35.400 --> 0:07:38.440 their carapus or kind of head. They've got five pairs 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:43.160 of more articulated walking legs, the front three of which 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:47.000 end in these teen s pincers for grabbing and manipulating objects. 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:49.760 At the front of the carapus, they have two pairs 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:52.200 of long antennae that they use to help feel what's 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:54.800 going on around them, and weird little beady eyes on 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:58.480 these short eyestalks. As they grow in size, they molt 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:03.000 their shells and grow new ones. They are predator, and 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:06.920 I understand they can be pretty aggressive towards other small crustaceans, 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:10.520 which are their primary food source. But most of the 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:13.640 giant tiger prowns that we eat come from farms, either 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:20.280 outdoor ponds or indoor tanks, and uh yeah there, we 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:24.200 eat them in whatever way you enjoy eating seafood. Shrimp 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:27.400 are always interesting because, like they're kind of mild, but 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:30.800 they've got those different flavor aspects that lend themselves to 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:34.120 a lot of different dishes, Like that sweetness can play 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:37.520 well with bright or tart flavors, that the richness can 0:08:37.559 --> 0:08:41.160 stand up to spicy flavors, the savory ness can play 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:45.439 alongside like earthy or vegetable sort of flavors. Just a 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:46.120 nice protein. 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:52.439 Yeah, yeah, I have had a realization lately that I've 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:57.200 always thought shrimp was like seafood light, Like if you 0:08:57.400 --> 0:08:59.479 are a little nervous about seafood. 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:02.080 You don't, Yeah, if you don't really like fishy flavors, 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:05.719 then shrimp might be a good good intro for you. Yeah. 0:09:05.800 --> 0:09:09.280 Yes, But I've heard from a couple of friends they 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:12.280 don't like shrimp, and I don't want to do with 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:15.600 this information. I think it's a bad texture based on 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:20.640 what they describe kind of that watery texture like ill 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:25.040 cooked shrimp. I see, this is an experiment for me 0:09:25.160 --> 0:09:30.200 to work on later. What about the nutrition. 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:33.199 Shrimp by themselves are pretty good for you, you know, 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:37.000 good source of protein and micronutrients. They contain some good fats. 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:41.200 They do contain dietary cholesterol, but the science jury is 0:09:41.240 --> 0:09:46.640 out about whether that really affects most people's blood cholesterol levels. 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:49.400 If it's a thing that you're watching out for, watch 0:09:49.400 --> 0:09:54.120 out for that. Mind your shrimp portion sizes. If you're 0:09:55.559 --> 0:10:00.760 lucky enough to be able to afford to do so. Yes, indeed, 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:05.160 well we do have some numbers for you. We do 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:10.960 no monetary ones though, Okay. Shrimp in general are the 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:16.120 most consumed seafood in the United States. Global production of 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:19.880 giant tiger prowns in particular is around seven hundred and 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:25.080 seventy thousand metric tons per year. Vietnam produces about thirty 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:30.200 five percent of that, mostly on small pond farms, and 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:33.920 they are the second most farm shrimp in the world, 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:38.600 at only about eleven percent of total farm shrimp. They 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:41.800 were the leading farmed species up until about twenty years 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:44.880 ago when white leg shrimp, which can be raised at 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:49.160 higher densities, surpassed them. White leg shrimp are now some 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:52.080 eighty three percent of farm shrimp production. 0:10:53.720 --> 0:11:02.640 Dang, yeah, okay, okay, well we do have a history 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:03.840 for you on this one. 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:12.480 Oh my, heck, we do. We again, the seafood industry 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:17.560 is very complex, so we will get into that, oh boy, 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:19.760 will we as soon as we get back from a 0:11:19.840 --> 0:11:21.880 quick word from our sponsors. 0:11:30.400 --> 0:11:30.880 And we're back. 0:11:30.920 --> 0:11:32.480 Thank you sponsored, Yes, thank you. 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:39.800 Okay. So, giant tiger prawns are indigenous to the Philippines, Australia, 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:44.959 and Southeast Asia. Oh we don't know how old the 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:49.880 species is, but decapods, a varied category of crustaceans that 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:53.840 includes shrimp, evolved four hundred and fifty million years ago 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:57.000 and they're still researching this, by the way. 0:11:57.360 --> 0:11:58.960 Cool yeah, love it. 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:04.000 Yep yeah, yep. So probably pretty old and generally speaking, 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:07.600 humans with access to shrimp have been eating them since 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:12.000 prehistoric times. Records indicate that the ancient Romans and Greeks 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:14.599 had ready access to them and enjoyed them in a 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:18.960 variety of ways. While the written record is sparse, historians 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:22.800 believe that larger shrimp. Like giant tiger prawns, were eaten 0:12:22.880 --> 0:12:28.080 boiled similarly to lobster, or in soups. They may have 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:32.040 also been roasted or used as an ingredient in patties 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:37.199 like simply patties. For more than a century, at least, 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:41.240 Indo Pacific coastal cities and towns in the areas where 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:45.400 great tiger prowns spawn naturally have been farming them on 0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:48.600 a small scale. In the early days, they were cultivated 0:12:48.640 --> 0:12:53.480 with other species of shrimp, usually in ponds. The first 0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:58.079 known scientific description of the tiger prown was by J. C. 0:12:58.520 --> 0:13:02.800 Fabricus in seventeen ninety eight, is also the one that 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:08.560 proposed the scientific name and then jumping way ahead. In 0:13:08.600 --> 0:13:11.880 the nineteen thirties, there were several breakthroughs and advances in 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:13.679 shrimp farming at large. 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:19.000 Yeah, basically like getting shrimp larvae to survive in captivity 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:22.439 was a bit tricky. Research started in Japan, but then 0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:25.679 moved to places like Tahiti, China, and Taiwan in the 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:31.240 nineteen sixties due to climate conditions being more favorable. Through 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:34.319 the sixties and into the seventies, there were advancements in 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:39.840 intensive farming, increasing yields and decreasing costs with shrimp farming. 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:44.160 Early on in this the main shrimp species being worked 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:47.959 with was the giant tiger prawn because they're relatively adaptable. 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:51.920 Yes, so research on breeding of the giant tiger prawn 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:55.400 and on the flavor compounds that make them so tasty 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:59.679 really got underway in the nineteen seventies. From nineteen seventy 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:02.199 eight to nineteen ninety one, the tiger prown was one 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:05.680 of six species of peniad shrimp sent to Hawaii for 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:10.599 research purposes, and thanks in part to this research, commercial 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:15.120 farms started opening in Thailand nineteen seventy two, and they 0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:19.760 soon dominated the global market for farm raised tiger prawns, 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:24.120 and commercial production really took off soon after that. During 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:27.480 the nineteen seventies and eighties, global production of the tiger 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:31.760 prawn suppressed any other species of shrimp. A lot of 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:36.440 this was accomplished through technological innovations and farming in places 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:41.360 outside of the shrimp's natural range where the conditions were suitable, 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:49.320 like West Africa and the Caribbean. However, this had unintended consequences, 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:53.280 and many of those places around potentially introducing an invasive 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:57.360 species after some of the shrimp escaped from farms or 0:14:57.480 --> 0:15:02.600 labs that they were being kept in Colombia, Venezuela, West Africa, 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:07.400 the Caribbean, Brazil, and the US all have similar stories 0:15:07.440 --> 0:15:11.760 about tiger prawn shrimp escaping into the wild and in 0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:17.640 some cases establishing a population. The ramifications are still being 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:25.320 studied in these places. For instance, tiger prowns were most 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:30.000 likely introduced to the US by accident after some escaped 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:37.480 in South Carolina in nineteen eighty eight. Only about three 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:43.400 hundred of the original two thousand were recovered, although another 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:45.280 source put it at much higher. They said it was 0:15:45.320 --> 0:15:47.960 like a thousand were recovered, but I both places said 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:52.640 three hundred. Yeah. And it wasn't until two thousand and 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:56.880 six that someone reported catching a tiger prown outside of 0:15:56.920 --> 0:16:02.000 this initial recovery along the coast of the US, and 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:08.360 then a handful followed after that in states like Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, 0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:13.160 and North Carolina. Over the years, other tiger prawns have 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:18.920 escaped from American labs during things like hurricanes. Reported sightings 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:21.760 of these shrimp have increased since two thousand and six, 0:16:21.880 --> 0:16:26.360 with a particular spike beginning in twenty eleven. They are 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:29.240 now found in bodies of water from Texas to North 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:33.600 Carolina in the US, but most experts don't think they 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:37.840 have established a population. However, others do and think that 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:39.880 we need to be trying to pin down how big 0:16:39.920 --> 0:16:40.200 it is. 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:46.400 Yeah, it can be a problem because they prey on 0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:49.920 native crustacean species and they can also carry diseases that 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:55.720 can spread to to native species. So if you do 0:16:55.800 --> 0:16:58.360 fish around the Gulf of Mexico or along the east 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:01.520 coast of the US, and you do giant tiger prons, 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:04.600 it is scientifically recommended that you do not throw them back. 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:11.280 Like environmental researchers want you to eat them, yes, yes, 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:16.920 and report them, report them and then eat them. Yeah, yes, 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:20.200 or in whatever order you need to work that out. 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:21.200 Yeah. Right. 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:27.520 Another problem that arose during this time was when farmers 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:33.320 started finding a top limit on intensive shrimp farming. The 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:36.760 first big production crash came around nineteen eighty seven to 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:40.560 nineteen eighty nine and Taiwan they were farming giant tiger 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:43.920 prons and during this two year period they lost eighty 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:47.360 percent of their yield due to stress and pollution and 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:55.080 ensuing diseases. In the shrimp populations there, And this next 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:59.120 note isn't necessarily about giant tiger prons, but I had 0:17:59.119 --> 0:18:02.280 to include it. And they were by far still the 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:05.399 most farm shrimp when this occurred, so it's probably not 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:13.080 not about them, okay. The Japanese Emperor Hirohito passed away 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:17.760 in nineteen eighty nine, posthumously, becoming known as Emperor Shoa, 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:21.720 and his death was a big deal and there were 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:25.400 like a couple months of mourning and ceremony leading up 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:30.760 to the funeral, and it's thought that it caused a 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:37.520 farm shrimp market crash. Prices of shrimp that farmers could 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:41.520 get for their wares fell by almost fifty percent that year. 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:47.520 The theory is that so Japan was the largest market 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:51.080 for shrimp at that time, partially because shrimp are associated 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:55.320 with celebration in a lot of segments of Japanese culture 0:18:56.040 --> 0:18:59.479 and the country was in mourning, so they stopped buying shrimp, 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:05.320 and this unfortunately coincided with an oversupply of shrimp in general. 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:12.800 So yeah, he Ahito's death caused a shrimp market crash. 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:14.840 Don't worry it bounce back. 0:19:17.200 --> 0:19:20.040 It did, but wow, a lot of thing to put 0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:26.040 on your obituary. All right, so yes. Meanwhile, doing all 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:29.240 of this, tiger prawn saw a pretty big boost in 0:19:29.280 --> 0:19:32.680 popularity in the US and elsewhere in the nineteen nineties. 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:36.120 They were featured on bar and restaurant menus, in part 0:19:36.200 --> 0:19:40.200 because the increased awareness to food chefs that hadn't been 0:19:40.680 --> 0:19:43.560 exposed to it before, and in part because of the 0:19:43.680 --> 0:19:48.040 rise of fusion restaurants. This was just We've talked about 0:19:48.080 --> 0:19:50.080 this a lot before, but that time period was a 0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:54.119 We're getting cable TV food shows, we see all that 0:19:54.200 --> 0:19:58.480 kind of stuff, so people were getting like, hello, I 0:19:58.560 --> 0:20:02.280 want to try this thing. That being said, things weren't 0:20:02.320 --> 0:20:06.560 all looking up with concerns around over fishing made worse 0:20:06.600 --> 0:20:11.000 by disease and pollution, lowering projected population growth because there 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:15.720 was this like graph that was saying, oh shrimp for days. 0:20:15.800 --> 0:20:17.359 Yeah, I got to be going up forever. And then 0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:20.560 it was like, oh, that's not how systems work in nature. 0:20:21.160 --> 0:20:22.760 That's just not correct. 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:23.280 Nope. 0:20:23.960 --> 0:20:27.919 Yes, in two thousand and four, a tiger prawn farm 0:20:28.160 --> 0:20:30.360 was set up in Florida, but it never took off. 0:20:32.640 --> 0:20:36.359 And yeah, there is a lot of ongoing research about 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:40.359 the impact of this invasive species of shrimp in the 0:20:40.480 --> 0:20:44.600 US to the environment and native species. Researchers are also 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:47.639 looking into where they may be coming from, which is 0:20:47.680 --> 0:20:51.880 actually really interesting to me because it's like, is it currents? 0:20:52.000 --> 0:20:53.679 Is it? Yeah? What is it? Like? 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:57.040 How do you track shrimp? Like even footlong shrimp are 0:20:57.119 --> 0:21:00.440 still you know, in comparison to the oceans. 0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:06.160 So yes, it's really interesting and the numbers are tricky 0:21:06.200 --> 0:21:08.480 to get to since a lot of it depends on 0:21:08.640 --> 0:21:13.760 people reporting a sighting or a catch. So again, if 0:21:13.760 --> 0:21:18.439 you see one. Research has already been done about the 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:22.920 population that has established itself in Colombian waters after attempts 0:21:22.920 --> 0:21:28.040 at controlled aquaculture failed. Research is also being done on 0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:32.879 over fishing, responsible shrimp farming practices and the impact on 0:21:32.920 --> 0:21:35.480 people who live in areas where tiger prawns are a 0:21:35.480 --> 0:21:37.040 big part of the economy. 0:21:37.520 --> 0:21:43.480 Yeah, as with any segment of the fishing industry, responsible 0:21:43.680 --> 0:21:49.080 and sustainable aquaculture and fishing practices for a giant tiger 0:21:49.119 --> 0:21:53.960 prown are concern and are also real complicated, like even 0:21:54.000 --> 0:21:59.200 when buyers, when consumers are educated about why sustainability is important, 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:03.040 finding sustainable practices takes a lot of work and the 0:22:03.040 --> 0:22:05.399 tools that we have to do so aren't really meant 0:22:05.480 --> 0:22:07.919 for like the small farms that most of the world's 0:22:07.920 --> 0:22:12.639 supply of giant tiger prowns are raised on, researchers and 0:22:13.119 --> 0:22:16.160 organizations are working on it. For example, the Monterey Bay 0:22:16.160 --> 0:22:21.160 Aquarium is currently helping Vietnamese farmers receive assessment and improve 0:22:21.200 --> 0:22:25.520 their production methods if necessary. I get the idea that, 0:22:25.640 --> 0:22:30.160 as with the Certified Organic label on American produce, small 0:22:30.240 --> 0:22:33.119 farms might be doing everything sustainably but just not have 0:22:33.200 --> 0:22:36.960 the resources to get certified. But a bunch of groups 0:22:37.000 --> 0:22:40.679 are working with the farmers on this, so that's cool. 0:22:41.040 --> 0:22:44.240 And as always, as a consumer, resources like the Monterey 0:22:44.240 --> 0:22:48.439 Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch can help you identify certified, sustainable 0:22:48.480 --> 0:22:52.719 and best choice seafood options. When buying any packaged seafood product, 0:22:52.760 --> 0:22:57.119 you can look for labels on the packaging like ASC Certified, 0:22:57.160 --> 0:23:01.840 Farmed Responsibly or BAP certified. Those are going to indicate 0:23:01.920 --> 0:23:04.840 products that have come from farms that have certification from 0:23:05.119 --> 0:23:11.320 the Aquaculture Stewardship Council or the Best Aquaculture Practices Program, respectively. 0:23:11.640 --> 0:23:15.920 So it's it's complicated, and it's a headache, and sometimes 0:23:15.920 --> 0:23:18.280 you just really want to eat shrimp, but you know 0:23:18.440 --> 0:23:20.840 it's it's it's worth, it's worth feeling good about the 0:23:20.840 --> 0:23:23.560 thing if you have the time and resources to do so. 0:23:24.760 --> 0:23:28.199 Yes, this was definitely an episode where I was like, 0:23:28.680 --> 0:23:32.280 I really want to eat this, but now I've got 0:23:32.320 --> 0:23:36.240 a yeah, try to be responsible. But now that we've 0:23:36.280 --> 0:23:39.240 done the research, I'm like, okay, so I really need 0:23:39.280 --> 0:23:42.240 to listen to some of these things. I did find 0:23:42.240 --> 0:23:44.080 a restaurant that I trust that has. 0:23:43.880 --> 0:23:46.560 The Oh that's great. Yeah, I see, And that's that's 0:23:46.560 --> 0:23:50.120 a terrific thing. Like when you know food professionals who 0:23:50.160 --> 0:23:52.800 are in the industry and who work with sourcing, who 0:23:52.840 --> 0:23:56.160 who work with sources for these kind of things. Yeah, 0:23:56.200 --> 0:23:58.919 I have done have done the legwork for you. Yes, 0:23:59.480 --> 0:24:04.400 the thank you, the decapod legwork. Yeah, that's a little 0:24:04.440 --> 0:24:11.320 legs busy like the dance. Oh A one note that 0:24:11.359 --> 0:24:14.159 I should have chimed in with. I didn't think I 0:24:14.280 --> 0:24:16.640 was going to get to follow you up on it, 0:24:16.720 --> 0:24:22.439 but you mentioned the flavors of these shrimp, and I did. 0:24:23.320 --> 0:24:26.119 I didn't write it down, but I did find a 0:24:26.160 --> 0:24:29.840 note about how most of the sweet flavors in shrimp 0:24:29.880 --> 0:24:35.240 actually come from different amino acids and so what you 0:24:35.280 --> 0:24:38.639 feed them perhaps obviously has a big impact on that 0:24:38.680 --> 0:24:41.040 and getting like the right type of proteins to them 0:24:41.160 --> 0:24:43.600 so that their bodies can use those building blocks to 0:24:43.880 --> 0:24:46.639 make their flesh tasty. 0:24:48.240 --> 0:24:53.000 It was very interesting to read scientific papers about the 0:24:53.080 --> 0:25:00.560 taste of shrimp and reading for certain taste. I assume 0:25:00.600 --> 0:25:04.760 that's kind of what you do when you describe how 0:25:05.320 --> 0:25:08.200 food taste during our what is it sectually? 0:25:08.400 --> 0:25:12.360 So yeah, I mean, except they've got they've got very 0:25:12.359 --> 0:25:14.640 expensive equipment to help them figure it out. 0:25:14.760 --> 0:25:21.280 So yes, yes, well this is the first of I'm 0:25:21.320 --> 0:25:30.280 sure many shrimp episodes. Oh I hope so oh mean too. 0:25:30.680 --> 0:25:33.719 We do love the seafood ones, even though they usually 0:25:33.720 --> 0:25:38.840 do have a depressing yeah depressing note, But they're so interesting. 0:25:39.240 --> 0:25:42.800 They are they really are what what amazing? What amazing 0:25:42.840 --> 0:25:44.400 critters so tasty and butter. 0:25:44.960 --> 0:25:51.440 Hmmm mm hmmmmm. Well, okay, that is what we have 0:25:51.560 --> 0:25:54.280 to say about the giant tiger prawn for now. 0:25:54.800 --> 0:25:57.200 It is uh and we would love to hear from 0:25:57.280 --> 0:26:02.399 you if y'all have any recipes or personalized knowledge about 0:26:02.440 --> 0:26:05.400 any of this, we would of course love to hear it. 0:26:05.560 --> 0:26:07.880 We do already have some listener mail for you though, 0:26:07.880 --> 0:26:09.320 and we are going to get into that as soon 0:26:09.320 --> 0:26:11.280 as we get back from one more quick break forward 0:26:11.280 --> 0:26:21.880 from our sponsors, and we're back. 0:26:21.880 --> 0:26:24.760 Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you, and we're back with 0:26:36.400 --> 0:26:37.040 Tiger Shrip. 0:26:40.720 --> 0:26:42.840 I get the pounds and then all the little leggy's 0:26:42.880 --> 0:26:44.480 going yeah, yeah, yeah. 0:26:44.520 --> 0:26:48.320 There was a lot of action happening that you listeners 0:26:48.320 --> 0:26:56.680 couldn't see, but I think it was communicated. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:26:56.800 --> 0:27:00.720