International Shrimp Contest USA 2019
The International Shrimp Contest USA will take place October 2023. The event was conceived with the idea of presenting the hobby keeping freshwater invertebrates to those interested in this sphere, and also to organize an international competition for shrimp breeders.
This shrimp contest is organized by Joe Theisen and sponsored by Dennerle and JBJ.
Contest Categories:
Group 1 Neocaridina All Colors
Group 2 Neocaridina Rili All Colors
Group 3 Caridina Super Crystal Red & Black
Group 4 Caridina Crystal Red & Black
Group 5 Caridina Tiger Full Color + Striped + Spotted
Group 6 Caridina Pinto Red & Black + Spotted + Striped
Group 7 Caridina Nanashi All Types
Group 8 Caridina Fishbone + Galaxy
Group 9 Taiwan Bee’s All Colors
Group 10 Caridina Crossbreeding
Registration, Fees, Acceptance and Deadlines
Every shrimp keeper or breeder may participate with their own breeds that pertain to one of the listed categories. Obligation to only enter self-raised shrimp to the contest When applying for registration, the participant affirms that the shrimp they show are shrimp they have bred and raised themselves. In the case of reasonable doubt, the participant in question is disqualified. In this case, the registration fees are not refunded.
You may register as a competitor at https://shrimpcontestusa.com Registrant list is ONLY made available to the organizing committee.
Entry Fees
▪ $25.00 per group, provided the shrimps are donated for raffling at the raffle booth after the contest (neocaridina only or for silent auction for Caridina sp.) Proceeds from Neocaridina raffles go to the Pet Care Trust Pets in the Classroom program, Coral Restoration Foundation and PIJAC’s Marine Ornamental Defense Fund, proceeds for Caridina auction will be used as needed to cover expenses for the contest.
▪ $30.00 per group, if the owner intends to take them back after the contest.
* Each participant may enter a maximum of 2 sets of groups per category.
*A show group consists of three to five shrimps, if there are more than three shrimps per group, the best three will be judged.
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.
Deadline:
Registration must be completed via the website www.shrimpcontestusa.com by deadline of September 30,2019.
A maximum of 100 show tanks are available for the Shrimp Contest 2019. Entries for the contest are accepted in their order of arrival. Although the registration period ends on September 30,2019, registration may be terminated ahead of this date if the maximum number of show group entries is reached earlier.
Auction/Raffle
When completing the registration process for the contest, you must state (by selecting appropriate box on the form) whether or not the shrimps are to be donated. Those that are not to be donated, must be collected in person on Sunday beginning at 2pm. 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. Any shrimps that are not collected will automatically become 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.
All Neocaridina shrimps in the contest that have not expressly been ruled out of the donation at the time of registration, will be included in the WPA raffle on Sunday. Any shrimp that were excluded from the raffle but have not been collected by 4:30 pm on Sunday will become the property of the organizing committee.
The raffle takes place on Sunday October 13, 2019. Tickets for the raffle will be on sale during the event located at the WPA raffle booth. There is no right of any kind to return or exchange the goods. At the end of the raffle, helpers will place the shrimps purchased in the course of the raffle in waterproof transport bags and hand them over to the purchaser. All purchasers of raffled goods should themselves make arrangements for appropriately insulated transport.
Additionally, for any Caridina shrimps in the contest that have not expressly been ruled out of donation at the time of registration, will be auctioned during the show on Saturday Oct 12 2019, by silent auction and the proceeds from the sales will be used by the organizing committee towards expenses of the contest. Any shrimp that were excluded from donation but have not been picked up by 4:30 pm on Sunday will become the property of the organizing committee.
Requirements
One set of shrimp comprises between 3 and 5 shrimp. If there are more than 3 shrimp in a set, the best 3 shrimp are judged. If you send in more than 5 shrimp, the superfluous specimens will not be put into the contest aquarium. A minimum size of 1.8 cm for the shrimp is required. Shrimp with a visible parasite infestation are disqualified. If berried shrimp are entered that release their offspring during the contest, the participant has no right to claim the offspring after the event.
Packaging, Allocation of Contest Tanks, & Delivery and Contact Info
After the registration deadline, the organizing committee will allocate the number of tanks for each category, based on the registrations received.
Contestants must ensure adequate and proper packaging of shrimps 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 committee in person must do so between 8:00am-4:00pm on Thursday October 10 2019, at the Aquatic Experience show, Meadowlands Exposition Center 355 Plaza Dr, Secaucus, NJ 07094. We will not be able to accept any late or last minute hand off after 4pm on Thursday October 10’ 2019. We cannot guarantee deliveries after this deadline 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. To guarantee identity of those submitting show groups is not known to any of the helpers, the organizing committee member will instruct the helper which tank to place the particular show group in.
For all deliveries, whether domestic or international, packages must be arranged to be delivered between Wednesday and Thursday October 9th &10th 2019, at the following address:
Shrimp Contest USA
ATTN: Joe Theisen
Booth # 345
Oct 9 & Oct 10’ 2019
9am to 4pm
Meadowlands Exposition Center
355 Plaza Dr.
Seacaucus, NJ 07094
We will not be able to accept any late or last minute hand off after 4pm on Thursday October 10’ 2019
Show Tank Specification and Tagging
Up to 100 Aquariums, 2.5 gallon tanks will be made available for the contest. The show group entries will be presented in these according to the category. The water parameters will be maintained within acceptable limits for the different categories.
Substrate: A suitable substrate will be used for every category (Shrimp King Soil)
Lighting: Individual lamp integrated into the cover or mounted above the cover panel
Filter: Air Driven sponge filter, 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 for the placement.
Judges, 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.
A show group consists of three to five shrimps, to allow for an assessment of the standard of breeding achieved. The best three invertebrates in a show group are compared with each other by the judges with the help of a points system.
The assessment guidelines and allocation of points take the characteristics of the following 10 different groups into account.
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. If this does not work (because all of the points are the same) three other point judges, who are not exhibiting in the relevant category, will decide the first three places in the category in question.
Judging will take place on Saturday, October 12th, before the show floor opens at 11:00 am, to allow the judges to complete their task without any distractions and so that the visitors will have full show hours to view the entries.
Visitors can vote on their favorites during the show days of Saturday and Sunday.
During the show on Saturday at 1:00pm, the winners of the different categories will be announced in the exhibition area and on the website. Judges’ names for the individual categories will also be announced.
Photos
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.
Promotion and Media Release
As a condition of participation in this contest at Aquatic Experience, you hereby grant permission to JBJ/Dennerle, WPA/Aquatic Experience and their contracted PR, Social Media and Marketing groups to utilize your photo, biography, appearance, name, voice, likeness and other information furnished in connection with the event, publicity of the event and future editions of the event and in connection with the promotion of the event in any and all manner and media. WPA/Aquatic Experience retains the rights and ownership of all images and sounds including photographs, video, audio and any other media not specified. WPA/AE is allowed to take pictures, video and other media to use for promotion and future events.
Exclusion of Liability
WPA/Aquatic Experience, Meadowlands Exposition Center, SMG (Show Decorator/Svc. Contractor), the contest sponsors and the organizing committee are not responsible for any loss, illness or failure of shrimp during transportation or during the exhibition period.
Instructions For Contestants:
– Upon arrival, contestants will need to check in at the Will Call Counter to receive their show pass in order to access the show floor.
– Shrimp contest tanks must be ready by 6pm on Thursday.
– Friday at 8am the judging begins, no one will have access to the contest area during this time.
– Winners will be announced on Saturday at 1pm and cash prizes distributed.
– Silent auction of designated shrimp will be open during the show on Saturday, closing at 5pm, the highest bidder will be given a receipt upon their CASH PAYMENT and their shrimps will be available on Sunday beginning at 1pm.
– Raffle will take place on Sunday, and the shrimp will be available for pick up as soon as winners are selected.
– Please plan accordingly.
If you have any questions, please e-mail Support@shrimpcontestusa.com