Planning to Start a Freshwater Shrimp Farming Business? Here is How

1. Planning to Start a Freshwater Shrimp Farming Business? Here is How Among all international seafood trade, shrimp is considered the most valuable commodity. The last few years have witnessed tremendous growth in aquaculture and experts expect this advancement to continue in the coming years as well. Just like any other business, proper attention is required in shrimp farming business as well. In case you are starting a freshwater shrimp farming business, here are a few tips: Pond Preparation Before filling the pond, dry and drain it out completely for three weeks. Experts ask to wait till the soil at the bottom cracks. Black soil from the bottom of the pond then needs to be removed. Subsequently, the pond is filled with water and dried for another week. Hydrated lime is added as well before final drying. Once clean and dry, double hapa nets are set up in the middle. Installing bamboo catwalks from the dikes to the pens is convenient. Fertilization Once the pens are installed, seawater is filled not more than 1.0-1.2 meters and the gates are sealed. Using depth gauge helps to maintain depth. Tea seed powder (20 ppm) is also added to ensure safety from predators and other competitors. Fine mesh screens are helpful to keep predators from entering the pond during pumping. Stocking and Stock Sampling Major companies such as The Waterbase Limitedby the KCT group consider it very important. Sampling the stock after 30 days from culture and every 10 days thereafter helps to ensure the quality. Feeding Shrimp feeds are spread in the pond and a portion of the feeding ration is left in the feeding trays. Four trays of 0.25 square meters are installed. This keeps a track of the total amount consumed. First 30 days, 200 grams of feed is given. After a few hours, the trays are checked which gives an estimation of the amount consumed. Subsequently, they are fed around five times every day at regular intervals. Water Management Post 30 days, 10-20% of water is drained out and replaced. The replacement should stay for 4-5 days before it gets mixed into the pond. Six paddle-wheel aerators help to maintain the oxygen level in the water and post 60 days, four aerators are used alternately.

2. Harvest and Post-Harvest Handling Once the shrimps are around 30 grams, they are harvested. The water is drained out and shrimps are collected using a harvest net. Then, they are kept in cold temperatures to maintain their quality.