How to Start a Shrimp Farm

Freshwater Prawn And Shrimp Farming

Shrimp are grown largely in Asia. In the U.S., they are raised under conditions that are highly controlled. What does intensive shrimp farming require? What conditions should be met? What equipments are needed? What can you expect under this type of shrimp farming? Find out the answers to these questions from our guide.

Much of the world’s demand for shrimp worldwide is supplied by farms from Asia, where they are grown in ponds, near a coast, in mangrove areas and rice paddies.

Shrimp farms in these regions can be grown in small tanks using low technology. In the U.S., shrimps are grown in highly controlled conditions.

Shrimp Farming Basics

Shrimp are typically grown in brackish water. A female shrimp lays thousands to millions of eggs, which hatch after about a day. The nauplii, as the hatched shrimp is called, are fed algae and brine shrimp nauplii. The nauplii develop into young shrimps after about 12 days. Some farms put the nauplii or post larvae in nurseries before transferring them to grown out ponds, others use acclimation tanks to prepare the shrimp for transfer to grown out ponds. The transfer usually occurs around the 25th day. The young shrimp stays in the pond until they are harvested after about three to six months after hatching. Shrimp are harvested by net fishing or by draining the pond. Harvests are done once a year, but in tropical climates, where water temperature is higher, a farm could harvest two to three times a year.

Shrimps can be grown using minimum intervention or with the use of ultra-high technology. In low-technology farming, natural saltwater is used by situating the farm in coasts or mangrove areas. Shrimp density is kept low, which is 2-3 shrimp per square meter. No pumps are employed, and water exchange is left to tidal action.

Intensive Fish Farming

To hasten the shrimp growing cycle or to produce shrimp that are of uniform size, conditions must be controlled (size uniformity is one criteria with which shrimps are graded). A farming technology developed in Texas, called Galveston or “clear water” hatchery employs intensive control to breed shrimp in industrial scale. Large-scale hatcheries like this usually augment young shrimp diet of algae with commercial feed. They use big tanks that could hold up to 30 tons.

As conditions are highly controlled, it is possible to produce seed stock whole year round and to stock shrimp at higher densities. As it is possible to stock more shrimp per unit area, the pond used could be smaller. In this setup, aeration is needed to keep oxygen supply at the desired level. High water exchange is also necessary to clean the water of wastes. And so is twenty-four hour monitoring. Survival rates and yield are higher for this kind of farming. Understandably, production cost is also higher.

For resources, visit the Web site of the US Marine Shrimp Farming Program.

Freshwater Prawn And Shrimp Farming

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