HONOLULU -- It turns out Oahu’s booming shrimp wagon business has not been particularly good for the state’s struggling aquaculture industry.

Oahu shrimp trucks certainly benefit from the great reputation of fresh island prawns. The Hawaii Tourism Authority touts them on its website. But experts in shrimp aquaculture said the local consumer prawn industry has pretty much collapsed.

Experts with the non-profit research organization the Oceanic Institute told KITV there is only one productive consumer prawn farm left.

The bright red roof of Romy's Shrimp and Prawn Shack stands out on Kamehameha Highway, bordered on one side by a flat expanse of rectangular ponds, separated by grassy borders and gravel service roads.

The prawns and shrimp steamed or sautéed in the busy kitchen still have heads, legs and eyes. After all, they were alive in the morning before they were served.

Customer Farnaz Ohadi from Vancouver, Canada, said the stand is authentic and the food clearly fresh.

"We are used to very fresh seafood,” Ohadi said as she expertly picked off the legs from a four-inch prawn. “This is really, really, good."

According to the Oceanic Institute the ponds operated by Romy Aguinaldo, make up the last productive farm on Oahu for consumer shrimp and prawns. Aguinaldo said he has survived by setting modest goals.

“I don’t’ push my production,” Aguinaldo said. He said trying to grow too many shrimp in a pond makes them more susceptible to disease and other problems.

His 52 ponds produce about 200 pounds a day of prawns and shrimp. He said that is just barely enough to feed the customers at his shack. Staying afloat still means his family, including his wife and daughter, must pitch in.

"We run it like a family, not like a company,” Aguinaldo said.

Over 15 years Aguinaldo has seen others with higher production goals fail due to high costs and problems like disease. The final blow, experts said, was the competition from Asian mega-farms which produce frozen shell fish at a much lower price than any farmer in Hawaii could beat.

Some shrimp wagon owners admitted privately to KITV that they buy their shrimp from overseas. Others refused to say where they get it.

Even Aguinaldo’s future is uncertain. He is working to open up more ponds, to help meet the demand of his customers. He said he has no plans to resume deliveries to stores or restaurants because he can’t afford to sell at a wholesale price.

He also hopes for a break from the federal government –- his landlord. A few years ago, the Fish and Wildlife Service bought the property for a wildlife reserve, and Aguinaldo’s lease expires in 2023.

"I wish they would give us more time,” Aguinaldo said. “We really love the area."

There are other shrimp farming enterprises across the state, but the Hawaii Department of Agriculture said they are almost entirely devoted to producing breed shrimp, which are sent around the world as disease-free breeding stock for shell fish farmers who operate on a much larger scale than anyone could in Hawaii.

Even though the vast majority of shrimp sold locally is imported, some customers told KITV it would not make a difference to them whether the shrimp was local or imported and so far, the industry has not been anxious to announce that Kahuku shrimp is a very rare commodity.