Production of Freshwater Shrimp Culture in Ohio

1
Production of Freshwater Shrimp Culture in Ohio

• Laura G. Tiu, Aquaculture Specialist
• OSU South Centers

2
What are they?

• Malaysian Prawns
• When is a prawn a shrimp?
• Life Cycle
• Hatchery (Feb-Mar)
• Nursery (Apr-May)
• Growout (June-Sept)
• Nursed juveniles (60 days old)
• What is a morphotype???
• Sex determination

3
History

• 1960s Research in Hawaii
• 1970s Research in Florida
• 1980s Research at Mississippi State University
• 1990s Research at Kentucky State University
• 2001 Approved for culture in Ohio
• 2002 First research in Ohio
• 2003 Latitude Study
• 2004 Feed Study
• 2005 High density
• 2006 One acre pond
• 2007 No shrimp at OSU

4
Where is this happening?

• Mississippi
• Commodity work
• Global seafood
• Arkansas, Georgia
• Tennessee, Kentucky
• Illinois, Indiana
• Ohio
• Nebraska
• tanks
• Iowa
• heated effluent

5
What do you need to know

• Business planning
• Permit (ODNR)
• Publication 61(QA)
• 50.00/year
• Pond Construction
• Production
• Marketing

6
What to expect (Short Version)

• Build pond/get permit/arrange seed/feed
• Lime/fertilize
• Stock Shrimp (1st week of June)
• Feed daily/test water weekly
• Aerate 24/7
• Worry daily, because you cant see them
• Develop marketing plan
• Harvest in September

7
Pre-Season (January-February)

• Determine Stocking Density
• 16,000 24,000/acre
• 20,000-30,000/acre w/substrate
• Order Shrimp
• You pick up or delivered
• Are they graded?
• Nurseries
• Ohio (Calalas Water Haven)
• Kentucky, Mississippi, Texas
• Order/Arrange Feed
• Plan Aeration
• Get Permit
• Ohio Department of Natural Resources
• 50.00/year

8
Liming (April-May)

• Prawns are very sensitive to low and high pH
• Test water and soil
• You want water alkalinity gt 40 mg/L
• You want soil pH gt 6.5 at sunrise
• Use Agricultural Limestone
• Add to soil before filling pond
• 1,000 10,000 lbs/surface acre
• Determined by soil quality

77.00
9
Fertilization
200.00

• Pros
• Stimulates natural foods
• Faster growth of juveniles
• Cons
• May increase predators
• Creates oxygen demand
• Can speed growth of filamentous algae
• May contain antibiotics (manure)
• May raise pH

10
Fertilization (2 weeks before stock)

• Organic fertilization plant or animal products
• Animal manure
• 200 pounds/acre in order to kick start things
• 100-200 pounds of horse (or other) manure per
  week for the first two weeks.
• Alfalfa meal. (Soybean meal, Distillers Grains)
• 200 pounds/acre/week
• Apply in the shallow areas to insure good mixing.
• Inorganic fertilization
• 28-0-0 liquid fertilizer (ammonium nitrate)
  available at most farm supply stores
• spray it evenly on the pond with a backpack
  sprayer
• 1-1.5 gallons per acre/per week.
• 0-49-0 phosphoric acid
• 10 oz./acre/week. 
• Take extra precautions as these chemicals can
  cause burns on eyes and skin.

11
Stocking Shrimp (June 1-15)

• Fill pond
• Monitor pH
• No more that 0.5 pH units difference
• Acclimate shrimp to temperature, pH
• Count shrimp
• shrimp numbers often underestimated
• Count three samples and extrapolate
• Graded shrimp will be uniform
• Ungraded shrimp will not be uniform

12
Pond Maintenance (June-Sept)

• Aerate 24/7
• Control predators (screen water)
• Insects
• Bullfrogs
• Turtles
• Birds
• Monitor water quality
• Feed
• Keep records
• Develop a marketing plan

13
Feeding (June-Sept)

• Feed once or twice a day
• If once, before sunset
• Distribute feed all around pond
• Especially edges
• Store feed in cool dry place
• Do not feed moldy feed
• Hold back feed if its building up in pond

14
Feeding (June-Sept)

• 16,000 shrimp/acre
• June 25 lbs/day
• July 1-15 30 lbs/day
• July 16-31 40 lbs/day
• Aug 1-15 50 lbs/day
• Aug 16-31 60 lbs/day
• Sept 1-15 60 lbs/day
• Sept 16-30 50 lbs/day
• Total 5000 lbs feed/acre

• 25,000 shrimp/acre (with substrate)
• June 25 lbs/day
• July 1-15 40 lbs/day
• July 16-31 50 lbs/day
• Aug 1-15 65 lbs/day
• Aug 16-31 75 lbs/day
• Sept 1-15 75 lbs/day
• Sept 16-30 65 lbs/day
• Total 6300 lbs feed/acre

15
Sampling (June-Sept)

• Can sample with a cast net
• Can see red eyes at night with flashlight
• Sometimes you will find molts

16
Harvesting

• Time how long it takes pond to drain
• Write this down!
• Shrimp will follow water
• Have baskets and clean aerated water
• Have ice
• Have scale
• Keep notes (pounds, times, etc.)
• Get help