North Americas Best Shrimp Competition

The North American International Shrimp Contest (NAISC) will take place June 10-11th 2023 as part of The Aquatic Expo, held at Charlotte Convention Center, 501 S College St, Charlotte, NC 28202. This contest event is the next generation, international focused contest. As with all contests, the focus is conceived with the intent to provide a platform to introduce Freshwater Shrimp Keeping to those interested in this part of the Aquatic Hobby. We also are happy to be able to bring International attention to the US, while providing a friendly competition between hobbyists alike.

This shrimp contest is organized by Therese Neal and Francois Neo and presented by The Aquatic Expo.

Join hobbyists and professional breeders from around the world as they compete for prizes and recognition as some of the best shrimp breeders in the world. 

Meet Our Panel of Judges

Nico Reisch

France

Nico is the top breeder of France, and one of the best breeders in the world. He is known for creating some outstanding crossbreeds, like his “Crazy Blue” and “Rico Nico” which are recognized across the globe. He has been invited to many other countries for touring, judging other contests and as a guest speaker. He takes his role as a judge and breeding very seriously, and turned what was once a single room hobby in his house, to an extended farm in a stand alone building. Nico has won many contests with his shrimp and continues to contribute new and exciting specimens into our hobby.

Rob Bloomfield

United States of America

 

Rob has been breeding shrimp for over 8 years along with his partner and wife Sharee, who also shares the same passion for shrimp keeping. Taking their love for the hobby to the next level, this duo started their own shrimp business in 2019, Shrimp Envy. In addition to ensuring that all hobbyists have access to quality shrimp, they have also developed a quality nutritional shrimp food line. Always eager to help grow our shrimp community, Rob also sponsors several YouTube creators and Aquarium Podcasters and continues to actively promote our hobby.
 

Erik Lucas

United States of America

Erik has been breeding and selling shrimp for many years, using his business platform to also help educate hobbyists and share best practices with them. Always happy to lend a hand, he is internationally recognized for his contributions to the hobby as well as his knowledge of shrimp. He has judged at some of the top contests in Europe, as well as all of the contests held here in the US. Additionally, his shrimp have won top awards in all of the contests that he competes in.

Carbon Chen

Taiwan

Carbon has always stood behind the US contests, rallying breeders from all over to get us all excited about shrimp breeding. He has also his own shrimp farm, where he continues to improve and satisfy his desire for the perfect shrimps. Carbon has had some of the most beautiful specimens, having award winning shrimp recognized by several countries. He also offers his knowledge and expertise to contests across the world, when he isn’t winning everyone’s hearts with his smile!

Bene Tay

Singapore

 

Bene is not new to the hobby and has been breeding shrimp for about 6 years, though he had a very rough start. He has taken that rough start, and used the experience to help other hobbyists not make the same mistakes he did, and provides them with the information they need to be successful instead of keeping what he has learned to himself. On this educational journey, he is working with several countries to teach breeding basics and help them sustain the hobby in their home areas. Additionally, Bene also works on research with students on genetics, bioscience and cycling, keeping records of all of the data collected. His contributions to the hobby are huge!

Meet Our Organizers

Therese Neal

United States of America

Therese Neal is a dedicated freshwater shrimp and planted aquarium enthusiast and was the first to organize shrimp shows in the US, creating the first international championship for Aquatic Experience and the American Shrimp contest for Aquashella. Having spent time in Europe and Asia helping with set-ups, judging, and planning, Therese has brought it all together once again, for this next generation of shrimp contests, built on integrity. Therese also works in the aquarium industry and represents an international brand, Sera, which offers a range of products for freshwater and marine aquarium that is among the best in its category.

Francois Neo

Italy

Francois Nollet, born on the Red Sea, has always had a deep connection with marine animals. As one of the pioneers of coral culture in Europe, Francois played a significant role in the development of the modern reef aquarium. With several stores on the French Riviera and a successful distribution of prestigious European brands on the American market, Francois brings a sense of design and European quality to everything he does. Now in the USA for 6 years, Francois is once again making waves in the aquarium world, this time in the shrimp business. Known as Francois Neo, he is a sought-after expert in the industry and continues to bring his passion and expertise to the international championship scene.

Rules and Regulations

Option 1: $35 Per Group

The owner of the shrimp will be able to take their shrimp back after the contest is over.

Option 2: $25 Per Group

With this option, the owner will auction the groups after the contest. In this case, the owner will be compensated with 50% of the proceeds generated from the auction, provided they are present at the show or have elected a representative in advance to the organizing committee. In the case that the breeder has not provided a representative in writing prior to the contest, and is not present for the auction, they will forfeit their claim to compensation.

Each individual contestant will receive 1 entry pass for both days. Only 1 pass per person, regardless of the number of entries that are paid for.

The participation fee will be paid via Paypal. It is not possible to view any other information of relevance to the competition through the transfer of the deposit.

*A limit of no more than 3 groups per person, per category, will be enforced.

*A show group consists of three to five shrimps, if there are more than three shrimps per group, the best three will be judged.

Shrimp Breeders

Any individual shrimp breeder may participate with their own breeds that fall within one of the 15 accepted categories. An obligation is to only enter self-raised shrimp for the contest and by registering, the breeder affirms that the shrimp groups they will present have been self-bred and raised themselves. In the case of reasonable doubt, the group in question will be disqualified. If this happens, the registration fee is not returned.

You may register as a competitor here.

The registration list is ONLY made available to the organizing committee.

Contest Categories

Category 1: Neocaridina Davidii sp. All colors

Category 2: Neocaridina Davidii sp. Rili all colors

Category 3: Caridina sp. Red and Black super crystals

Category 4: Caridina sp Red bee, all grades

Category 5: Caridina sp Black Bee, all grades

Category 6: Tiger variants, full color

Category 7: Tiger variants, striped/spotted

Category 8: Caridina sp. Red and Black Pinto spotted head and multistripe

Category 9: Caridina sp. Red “Shadow Bee”, Classic colors and bee influenced signs (Full, lined, saddled, banded, Mosura, Hinomaru and Co

Category 10: Caridina sp. Black “Shadow Bee”, Classic colors and bee influenced signs (Full, lined, saddled, banded, Mosura, Hinomaru and Co

Category 11: Caridina sp. Blue & Red bolt, Blue & Red steel, Snow white variants

Category 12: Caridina sp. Fishbone and Galaxy variants

Category 13: Caridina crossbreeding Focus on Color Quality

Category 14: Caridina crossbreeding focus on Pattern Quality

Category 15: Caridina crossbreeding focus on Innovation

Registration Deadline

Registration must be completed via the website {NAISC REGISTRATION} by the deadline of May 20th, 2023. A maximum of 80 show tanks are available for the contest 2023. Entries for the contest are accepted in their order of arrival. Although the registration period ends on May 20, 2023, registration may be terminated ahead of this date if the maximum number of show group entries is reached earlier.

Auction Guidelines

When completing the registration process for the contest, you must state (by selecting the appropriate box on the form) whether or not the shrimps are to be auctioned. Those that are not to be auctioned, must be collected in person on Sunday, time TBD. Alternatively, the owner must contact the organizing team and make arrangements for collection with them in advance.

Any authorized representative may also collect the shrimps upon production of written authorization plus a copy of the participant’s identity card if requested. Any shrimp that are not collected will automatically become the property of the committee. No reimbursement of the entry fee is possible. For organizational reasons, it will not be possible to send the shrimps back to their owners by post. The auction will take place on Sunday.

Additionally, any shrimp that were excluded from the auction, but have not been picked up by 4:30 pm on Sunday will become the property of the organizing committee.

Shrimp Inspection

By registering for the contest, every participant gives their consent to an inspection of their shrimp breeding by a representative of the organizing committee. The inspection takes place following notification. Refusal of the inspection will result in disqualification and the entry will not be reimbursed. The breeding inspection by the representatives of the organizing committee will be carried out on a random basis.

Transporting your Shrimp

Contestants must ensure adequate and proper packaging of shrimp with each show group entry packed separately in transport bags. The transport bag must be inscribed with the following details: category, genus, and, if applicable, the variant or grade. Please ensure these details are clearly legible and applied with a waterproof marker. The participant’s full name should NOT be written on the transport bags. Write your name and address only on the package exterior or include a letter with your name and address inside your package.

Verification is done with each registered show group to ensure shrimps belong to the relevant group. Should problems such as missing or wrong labeling arise and no correct allocation is possible, the shrimps will be displayed in separate tanks outside of the contest floor with no possibility of being judged.

Although we attempt to place all shrimps in the show tanks as soon as possible, this can take some time when dealing with large numbers at once.

Shrimp deliveries may only be opened by the organizing committee. Shrimp deliveries handed to the committee in person must do so between 8:00 am-4:00 pm on Friday, June 9th, at the Convention center.

Please make prior arrangements with the show team if you intend to deliver in person. We cannot guarantee deliveries after 4 pm will be able to be judged, and may be placed in separate tanks outside of the contest floor if not. Should you wish to deliver your show group entry in person, please make sure the transport bag is handed to one of the organizing committee members ONLY.

International shrimp deliveries: Should you wish to participate but are outside of our borders, we are able to accept shipments through Aquarium Partners. Please reach out to us if you need this service for more information.

Delivery needs within the US can be shipped directly to Aquarium Partners at 151 Powell Rd, BA 117, Columbia SC 29203.

***Deliveries need to be arranged so that the items are delivered between Monday, June 5th and Wednesday, June 7th.

Show Tanks Specs and Tagging

Up to 80 Aquariums, 2.5-gallon tanks will be made available for the contest. The water parameters will be maintained within acceptable limits for the different categories.

Substrate: A suitable substrate will be used for every category

Lighting: Individual lamp integrated into the cover or mounted above the cover panel

Filter: Internal filter with motor filter

Water Quality: Soft or medium hard water with a PH approaching neutral

The tanks will be numbered/tagged consecutively. Following judging, each tank will be labeled with the category, the breeder’s name, and the number of points awarded or the placement.

Judging Criteria, Procedure, and Entry Groups

The Judges will be appointed by the organizing committee.

The allocation of judges to a particular group(s) of competing shrimp is carried out by the organizing committee to ensure that no juror judges a group in which they or a member of their family has an entry in.

The categories will be assessed by two judges, who are not allowed to exhibit in this category (family members are also excluded). Each show group entry will be judged according to the points system listed above. Each of the two judges awards their own points. The points are added together and then divided by two. It is not intended that an order will be determined by the two judges. The tanks are, of course, anonymous.

Once the points have been awarded, if there is a tie (in the first three places) in one category, the highest single judge points will determine the order of the places with the same total points.

After the first place has been decided in each of the categories, the competition judges will be given a list with the tank numbers of the category winners and will then decide which are the three favorites (1st place = 3 points, 2nd place = 2 points, 3rd place = 1 point). The show group with the highest combined numbers from this assessment will be the overall champion.

Visitors can vote on their favorites during the show days of Saturday and Sunday. Voting cards will be provided within the show bags given at the door, and also at the contest area. Duplicate voters will only be counted once.

Judging Criteria, Procedure, and Entry Groups

Official photographs will be taken of the show groups. The organizers will hold the copyright to these photos, which will be made available for publishing in magazines, etc. We are planning to present the winners of the competition at least in the appropriate print media and on Internet sites.

Visitors may take photos of all the invertebrates on display. No manipulation with fingers, sticks, or similar objects is permitted in the tanks.

Only the official photographers appointed by the organizing committee may be permitted some careful manipulation by means of clean wooden skewers. The organizing team is obliged to prevent any manipulation by visitors.

Liability

TAE, all contest sponsors, and the organizing committee are not responsible for any loss, illness, or failure of shrimp during transportation or during the exhibition period.