Effect of Stocking Size on Growth Performance, Biomass, Production, Yield, and Survival of Caridean Shrimp Cage-Cultured in a Pond System

Abstract: We evaluated the effect of stocking size on growth performance, biomass, production, yield, and survival of the caridean shrimp Macrobrachium americanum, a freshwater prawn, cultured in cages held in a pond system. The experiment was conducted using 15 cages of 3 m³ placed inside an earthen pond of 1,422 m² or surface area. Seventy-five prawns were stocked for 180 d at sizes of 5, 15, 25, 35 and 45 g, and the initial stocking density was adjusted to 1.7 individuals/m³ for all size groups. Growth performance, biomass, production, yield, and survival were significantly affected by stocking size. The mean final weight fluctuated from 21.3 g for the 5-g stocking size to 82.1 g for the 45-g stocking size, whereas prawns initially stocked at 35 g obtained a biomass of 277.8 g and at 45 g obtained a biomass of 246.3 g and a yield >82.0 g/m³. The specific growth rate decreased with stocking size from 0.78%/d for the 5-g group, to 0.33%/d for the 45-g group. Annual production fluctuated from 28.0 kg/ha for the 5-g group to 88.7 kg/ha for the 45-g group, and yield was from 560.0 kg/ha for the 5-g group to 1,640 kg/ha for the 45-g group. Survival varied from 80.0% for the 5-g group to 60.0% for the 45-g group. The results showed that prawn production in caged-pond systems cultured at lower stocking sizes during the juvenile-adult phase is feasible.

Received December 28, 2013; accepted June 12, 2014.