Principles of live transportation
The basic principle behind the technology
of live transportation is temperatureinduced
cold anaesthetization. The water
temperature is brought down to a limit at
which the metabolic rate of the animal is
reduced to a minimum, so that its storage
and transport in this condition does not
effect any apparent increase in metabolic
rate. The movements of the cold-anaesthetised
shrimp are minimum, there is no stress
caused by vibrations, noise and light; weight
loss is usually negligible, and the animals
produce no excreta because there is no feed
intake and metabolism (Schoemaker, 1991).
The shrimps are conditioned for a period of
time before cold-anaesthetization by starvation,
which facilitates effective lowering of
metabolic rate at low temperature. Immobilized
shrimps are then layered densely
using a suitable packing medium such as
chilled sawdust. On arrival at the destination,
the water temperature is gradually
raised to the ambient level, so as to revitalize
the shrimp from the anaesthetised state. This
ensures maximum freshness of the harvested
produce up to the point of final sale.