Mr. Russell Allen

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  www.shrimpnews.com/FreeNewsBackIssues/FreeNewsMay200922 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 5/22/2009    Last Visited: 6/8/2009  

  Russell Allen, owner of Seafood Systems, a small shrimp farm in Okemos, Michigan, is working to secure funding for a commercial indoor shrimp farm that would be able to produce a million pounds of shrimp a year at a cost of around $1.30 a pound. At the five-million-pound level, Allen thinks he could produce shrimp at less than a dollar per pound. "Ultimately, on a very large project, we could grow shrimp for $0.70 to $0.80 a pound," said Allen. He hopes to raise $10 million from venture capital investors in the next six months to get the commercial project off the ground.
  
  "My numbers show that a viable commercial project would need at least a million pounds of production per year to get to any kind of economies of scale; five million pounds would be much better," said Allen.
  
  The initial capital cost to go to five million pounds immediately was too high. "I knew I could never raise the required capital on any kind of fair terms," he said. "I have settled upon an initial project of one million pounds per year, with subsequent expansion to five million pounds in the next five years."
  
  Allen and his team have developed a feeding system that results in feed conversion ratios as low as 0.7 to 1, which Allen says is "better than any other farmed animal...." The company says it can use feeds with little or no fish meal, and its energy costs per pound of shrimp produced are on a par with typical outdoor farmed shrimp. "The system has been almost totally automated, very little labor needed during production," he said, adding the one area still being worked on is what Allen calls a "usable" shrimp de-heading machine because "on a commercial scale, a de-heading machine is essential to keep processing costs in line."
  
  Information: Russell Allen, President, Seafood Systems, Inc., 3450 Meridian Road, Okemos, Michigan 48863, USA (phone 1-517-347-5537, email shrimpone@aol.com).

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  www.aquaculture.asn.au/cat_content.asp?contentid=13335& - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 6/30/2009    Last Visited: 6/30/2009  

  Russ Allen, a shrimp farmer who is looking at potential West Michigan sites to construct an indoor shrimp-farming facility, said the fish and shrimp raised in
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  Allen, the shrimp farmer and president of the Michigan Aquaculture Association, and Dan Vogler, owner of the largest private aquaculture facility in the state, are promoting
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  Allen, who has been working on a model to raise shrimp in an indoor facility in Okemos for 15 years, believes he has a concept that will fill part of the vast market for shrimp. He said he is looking to produce about a million pounds of shrimp a year at the start, then eventually grow to 5 million a year.
  
  Allen and Vogler admit that a major stumbling block for a large aquaculture expansion is the lack of an in-state processor.

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  www.aquaculture.asn.au/cat_content.asp?contentid=13362& - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 6/30/2009    Last Visited: 6/30/2009  

  Russ Allen, a shrimp farmer and president of the Michigan Aquaculture Association, and Dan Vogler, owner of the state's largest private aquaculture facility, say

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  www.farmworldonline.com/News/ArchiveArticle.asp?newsid= - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 5/20/2009    Last Visited: 6/7/2009  

  For Russ Allen, president of the Michigan Aquaculture Assoc., what the state really needs is an example of a large operation that will serve as a model.
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  Allen, a shrimp farmer in Okemos, has been working on developing a proprietary system for raising shrimp indoors for years and he's a little cagey about the details. There are plenty of competitors who would like to know the details of the system he's working on.
  
  He said the biggest obstacle to the growth of fish farming is the lack of a processing facility. What he's trying to do with his shrimp operation would include a processing facility and might be useful for fish as well, he stated.
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  According to Allen, a processing facility is key because one can sell only so many fish to lake associations and fee for fishing operations. He said the Indiana Soybean Assoc. has been doing a great job marketing aquaculture in Indiana. He believes everyone in Michigan, especially state legislators, needs to learn more about fish farming and its potential.
  
  "We're trying to show everyone that it's not just talk, that we can really do it," Allen said.
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  Vogler and Allen are hoping their efforts through the Michigan Aquaculture Assoc. will help convince lawmakers and others that aquaculture can work in Michigan on a large scale.

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  www.shrimpnews.com/FreeNewsBackIssues/FreeNewsApril2009 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 4/24/2009    Last Visited: 6/8/2009  

  Russ Allen, owner of Seafood Systems, Inc., has installed a computerized, automated feeding system at his small indoor shrimp farm in Okemos, Michigan.
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  Allen hopes his innovations will benefit USA aquaculture and the fledgling USA shrimp farming industry. The USA has an annual, multi-billion dollar trade deficit in shrimp. A domestic shrimp farming industry would narrow the deficit, while creating additional jobs and a tasty, locally grown, environmentally friendly product.
  
  Seafood Systems envisions building an indoor shrimp farm in Michigan, a farm capable of producing five million pounds of shrimp annually. Allen is currently looking for a farm site in West Michigan, from Muskegon County to Manistee County.
  
  Information: WAGO Corp., P.O. Box 1015, N120 W1929 Freistadt Road, Germantown, Wisconsin 53022, USA (phone 1-262-255-6222, email info.us@wago.com, webpage http://www.wago.us).
  
  Information: Russell Allen, President, Seafood Systems, Inc., 3450 Meridian Road, Okemos, MI 48863, USA (phone 1-517-347-5537, email shrimpone@aol.com).

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  www.shrimpnews.com/FreeNewsBackIssues/FreeNewsMarch2009 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 3/13/2009    Last Visited: 6/8/2009  

  Russ Allen, president of Seafood Systems, a small shrimp farm and market in Okemos, Michigan, surprised many at the forum by describing Michigan as an ideal location for large-scale, commercial shrimp farming. He said he is currently looking at sites in West Michigan from Muskegon County to Manistee County for his indoor shrimp farming business. Allen said it will take some financial assistance from state government to help get shrimp farming started in Michigan, but it should take off after the high startup costs. His company has been perfecting its innovative system since 1994. "There's huge room for expansion. We could be a leader in the world of aquaculture," Allen said.
  
  Information: Russell Allen, President, Seafood Systems, Inc., 3450 Meridian Road, Okemos, MI 48863 USA (phone 1-517-347-5537, email shrimpone@aol.com).

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  www.aquaculture.asn.au/cat_content.asp?contentid=13400& - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 6/30/2009    Last Visited: 6/30/2009  

  The plant is a pilot aquaculture R&D facility designed by company founder and president Russ Allen, a veteran shrimp farmer. He transformed
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  Allen hopes his innovations will benefit the fledgling

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  www.aquaculture.asn.au/cat_content.asp?contentid=13218& - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 6/30/2009    Last Visited: 6/30/2009  

  Over in Okemos, Russ Allen is selling shrimp at his Seafood Systems Inc. -- shrimp he grows right there.
  
  Those shrimp, a few hundred pounds a week, are the test phase product of 15 years of research. He said he envisions acres of indoor shrimp farms, perhaps in
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  has been pretty much a fish-stocking industry," Allen said.
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  But the fish market could be larger -- much larger, said Allen, president of the Michigan Aquaculture Association, and Vogler, who is on the National Trout Farmers Board and the American Farm Bureau Federation aquaculture committee.
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  Allen and the others said the state has not supported aquaculture as a growth industry.
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  Allen called for help from state government, noting the state is looking to diversify its employment base.
  
  Allen and Vogler lamented the Department of Agriculture, overseeing the state's second-largest industry, has been cut to the bone, hindering its ability to encourage new industries.
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  Allen -- who is growing shrimp in
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  , because we have the resources to do this," Allen said.

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  www.aquaculture.asn.au/cat_content.asp?contentid=13219& - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 6/30/2009    Last Visited: 6/30/2009  

  Over in Okemos, Russ Allen is selling shrimp at his Seafood Systems Inc. -- shrimp he grows right there. Those shrimp, a few hundred pounds a week, are the test-phase product of 15 years of research. He said he envisions acres of indoor shrimp farms, perhaps in
  ...
  has been pretty much a fish-stocking industry,'' Allen said.
  ...
  But the fish market could be larger --much larger, said Allen, president of the Michigan Aquaculture Association, and Vogler, who is on the National Trout Farmers Board and the American Farm Bureau Federation aquaculture committee.

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  www.lansingbusinessmonthly.com/article_read.asp?article - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 10/1/2007    Last Visited: 10/9/2007  

  Russ Allen weighs some fresh shrimp for sale at the Shrimp Farm Market.
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  To Allen, they're vertebrae in Michigan's economic backbone.
  
  "We're a new industry," said Allen, president of Seafood Systems and owner of the Shrimp Farm Market."Where else can you go to find a track record of indoor shrimp farming?"
  
  Wedged between horse farms and suburban developments on the eastern edge of Okemos, the pilot research facility is the first shrimp farm in Michigan.It's an industry hatching in tanks the size of backyard pools, and one that, Allen claims, could be a multibillion-dollar-a-year commercial enterprise with thousands of jobs.
  
  "This is a story that addresses Michigan today," said Allen."It says what we want and what we need.Now all we need is a mechanism to get it."
  
  Coming home
  
  Allen returned to Michigan in 1990 after 20 years of successful shrimp farming in Latin America.He came back to his stomping grounds, he said, for the public education his kids could get in the United States.He returned, too, with a vision of bringing commercial indoor shrimp farming to a state with 20 percent of the world's fresh water.
  
  "It was a challenge coming back," said the 50-something Allen, adding he'd never held a job in the United States."But I was willing to start the research to see if we could farm shrimp here."
  
  Fourteen years of study, application and a successful farmer's market proves it can be done.
  
  "It's been a long research effort, but we've developed the best way to farm shrimp in the world," said Allen of a method that is environmentally friendly, bio-secure and technologically advanced.
  
  Even more so, Allen's indoor method is economical and efficient.Compared with outdoor shrimp farming, Allen's pilot farm can produce a half-million pounds per year per acre-as opposed to 2,000 to 4,000 pounds for a typical outdoor farm.
  
  "Now the challenge is to go from where we're at with successful technology to creating a successful commercial farm," said Allen.
  
  Schools of thought
  
  Allen's track record in Latin America proves he's a world leader in his field.A University of Michigan graduate, Allen pioneered shrimp farming in Ecuador.In 10 years, the country's export of 100,000 pounds per year grew to 210 million pounds-yielding nearly $1 billion in income.
  
  Allen spawned similar success in Belize where he built that country's first independent shrimp farm.
  
  Demand also paints a convincing argument for Allen's venture into Michigan markets.
  
  According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Americans consume an average of 4.4 pounds of seafood per person annually.With U.S. shrimp farmers meeting just 1 to 2 percent of that demand, imports have skyrocketed to nearly 1.3 billion pounds a year.China is a major supplier.
  
  "We have a tremendous opportunity right here in Michigan," said Allen, mentioning that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the importation of Chinese shrimp earlier this summer."We have the chance to replace those imports from China, and continue to meet demand."
  
  A marriage of convenience could also be in the making between the state's ethanol producers and shrimp farmers.
  
  A nutritious shrimp food, Allen said, can be created from dry distiller grains left over from ethanol production.With seven or more ethanol plants in the works across Michigan, and with food conversion rate for shrimp being just .7 pounds of feed for one pound of shrimp, Allen's shrimp could be the most well-and cheapest-fed in the United States.
  
  "That's cheaper than for any other farm animal," said Allen, "be it a turkey, a cow, a pig or a chicken."
  
  With feed being much of a farm's operating cost, the availability of inexpensive grain promises to keep the cost of shrimp down, further contributing to the feasibility of Allen's venture.
  
  "We've demonstrated this is a viable operation," said Allen."And we opened a retail market to define who our customers might be."
  
  To date, that market has been a huge success.Open on Fridays and Saturdays, the market sells all sizes of shrimp, from small to super jumbo, with prices ranging from $6 to $20 a pound.
  
  "People love our product," said Allen.

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