Urban shrimp farming concept named one of Time Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2022

Attaraya’s ‘plug-and-play’ Shrimpbox utilizes cargo containers

Time Magazine has named an urban shrimp farming system using cargo containers one of the best inventions of the year.

Atarraya’s Shrimpbox, touted as a “plug and play” technology for producing farmed shrimp in landlocked and urban locations, is similar to vertical farming, explained the company’s CEO and Founder Daniel Russek.

“Shrimpbox tackles several problems, from sustainability to access to food,” said Russek. “With our technology-driven solution, we can help solve the issue of global food security by making shrimp the protein of the 21st century.”

The Shrimpbox is an AI-powered, automated system that can be operated remotely, everything from monitoring water quality to feeding the shrimp. Shrimpbox claims this system can deliver a return on investment 10 times greater than producing poultry or swine, and because it’s land-based it mitigates the environmental impacts of traditional farming in or near waterways. The 40-foot-long Shrimpbox containers can produce 1.5 metric tons of shrimp annually, an area that typically requires two farm acres or 20 seabed acres, according to Russek.

Based in Mexico City and Indianapolis, Ind., USA, Atarraya is a privately held corporation.

See Time’s list of The Best Inventions of 2022 here. Time solicited nominations from editors and correspondents around the world, with a focus on growing fields like electric vehicles, renewable energies, foods and the metaverse. Entrants were then judged on factors like originality, efficacy, ambition and impact.

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