Increased production of inland shrimp farms

View the project final report

• 2006 annual report
• 2007 annual report
• 2008 annual report

Commodities

• Animals: shellfish

Practices

• Animal Production: feed formulation, mineral supplements
• Education and Training: extension, on-farm/ranch research

Inland shrimp farming uses saline groundwater that, relative to seawater, is deficient in potassium (K). This causes an ionic imbalance in the shrimp resulting in significant stress and major mortalities during the summer. Farmers must often harvest ponds before the shrimp have reached optimal size, resulting in economic loss. Two strategies for alleviating the low-K problem will be developed and tested in replicated trials: addition of potassium to the pond water and to the feed

The overall goal of the project is to increase the viability of inland shrimp farms in the WSARE region by improving farm productivity. The project objectives are: 1) to determine the concentrations of potassium, both in the pond water and feed, needed to reduce osmoregulatory stress, and related mortalities, to shrimp in low-salinity ponds; and 2) to develop pond management strategies based on these results.