22
Effect of performing diet in shrimp nursery Kim NT Tran, Grobest Vietnam, Luan T Nguyen, National Breeding Center for Southern Marine Aquaculture, Anant Bharadwaj, Olivier Decamp, Grobest Holding
Figure 1. Farm with multi-phase set-up in Vietnam.
Shrimp farmers are facing several challenges, from diseases such as AHPND, EHP and WSSV, to farmgate price volatility. There has been a renewed interest in the nursery to optimize resources and cope with disease challenges. When properly designed and managed, nurseries are high-biosecurity facilities, excluding diseases and limiting exposure of early-stage shrimp to less controlled grow-out production, to grow shrimp from PL10 to sizes as large as 3 grams. These larger shrimp will have a developed immune system and are expected to perform better when transferred to the grow-out pond. Furthermore, their health status can be easily checked during the culture and before transfer to the grow-out pond.
Hatchery Feed & Management Vol 9 Issue 3 2021
This benefit has been critical in the fight against AHND and EHP. In the nursery, shrimp are reared in higher stocking density and reduced water volume, permitting a higher degree of control on water and feed management and a better evaluation of shrimp growth and survival rates. Yta et al. (2007) found that the nursery phase contributed to increasing the survival and yield of shrimp in the grow-out phase. Finally, the use of a nursery phase shortens the duration of the production time in grow-out ponds, reducing the risk of disease outbreaks and increasing rotation and the number of crops per season.
