Giant freshwater prawns live in freshwater environments but their larvae require brackishwater to survive. These crustaceans are common in the tropical and sub-tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific region and are reported to grow to a length of 255 mm. Based on breeding trials, they take more than a year and a half to mature.
Why culture freshwater prawn?
- Can be a good alternative to tilapia and tiger shrimp
- Can be polycultured with carp, tilapia, catfish, etc.
- Established market niche and high export potential
- Native to the Philippines and other Asian countries
How to culture GIANT FRESHWATER PRAWN?
Broodstock Management
- Broodstock are stocked at about 4:1 female-male ratio. Blue- and orange-clawed males are preferred since these males are bigger and are able to mate more efficiently than smaller males.
- Orange eggs of berried females will take about 3 weeks to hatch while grayish or brownish eggs will hatch in 2 to 3 days, usually at midnight to early morning.
Larval rearing
- Larval rearing tanks may be made of fiberglass, polyethylene, or concrete. Water with a salinity of 12 ppt is used and stocking density is 50-100 larvae/L.
- Total standing water volume at any given time to produce 700,000 postlarvae (PL) from 2.5 million stage I larvae is 50 tons excluding water change. Allocate 150 m2 area for the tanks and other hatchery facilities. This is using the lower limit of stocking density at 50 larvae/m2.
- Larvae are fed brine shrimp nauplii, egg custard (solidified egg emulsion), and water fleas, Moina sp.
- Water quality is maintained at pH=7.2-8.5, dissolved oxygen (DO) >3 ppm, temp=28-31°C, ammonia <0.1 ppm.
- The larvae undergo eleven distinct stages of development before they metamorphose to PL in 28-35 days depending on temperature, nutrition, and other factors.
Nursery
- Primary nursery rearing phase takes 15 to 30 days; Secondary nursery to produce juveniles is up to 60 days.
- Once the larvae metamorphose to PL these are gradually acclimated to freshwater.
- PL are reared in nursery tanks, ponds, or lake-based hapa net cages and fed commercial feeds at 10-20% of body weight.
- Fifteen-day old PL (PL 15) and older are ready for grow-out.
Stocking density for nursery
a. Ponds
- 1,000 PL/m2 no aeration and substrates
- 2,000 PL/m2 with aeration and substrates
b. Tanks
- 1,000 PL/m2 without substrates
- 2,000 PL/m2 with substrates
c. Cages
- 1,000 PL/m2
Grow-out
- Procure quality prawn PL from a reputable hatchery or supplier [PL are available at SEAFDEC/AQD’s Binangonan Freshwater Station]. Ensure minimal transport stress to PL.
- Stock PL 15 depending on the culture system to be used. Higher stocking densities could result in smaller prawns at harvest. For rearing in net cages in lakes, cage size varies from 25-200 m2 submerged at 1 m depth.
- Provide submerged feeding trays for prawns cultured in cages. Formulated diets for shrimp or fish may be used.
- In both pond and cage culture, stock management could be by batch system (waiting until prawns reach average marketable sizes), or cull-harvest system where marketable size are periodically culled out before one final harvest of the stocks. The cull harvest system is done to allow smaller prawns to on-grow to larger sizes when the larger ones are culled out. This happens usually in male prawns which exhibit a size hierarchy (i.e. blue clawed prawns which are the most aggressive grow fastest, followed by orange clawed males and the least or the slowest growing are the small males).
- In ponds, use shelters/substrates to increase pond surface area, improve survival of molting prawns, and allow for higher stocking densities.
- Prawns reach marketable size in 4 to 5 months. Mean size at harvest is 25-35 grams but male prawns could grow to larger sizes. Longer culture period may be required for higher stocking densities.
Technical assumptions for seed production
- Project duration : 5 yrs
- No. of broodstock (F=2,500 M=500) : 3,000
- Survival rate : 0.20 %
- No. of days/run : 45
- Survival rate of PL : 0.70 %
- Production/60 days : 700,000 pcs
- Number of runs/year : 4
- Farm gate price (PL 15) : P 1.00
Production of Grow-Out
Stocking density for grow-out – Culture system : Density
- Extensive system : 1-4 PL/m2
- Semi-intensive : 5-20 PL/m2
- Intensive : more than 20 PL/m2
Feeding rate (semi-intensive)
Average prawn weight (g) / Amount of feed (% of total prawn weight)
<5 10
5 – 15 7
15 – 25 5
>25 3
- Procure quality prawn postlarvae (PL) from a reputable hatchery or supplier. Ensure minimal transport stress to PLs.
- Stock 15-day-old PLs depending on the culture system to be used. Higher stocking densities could result in smaller prawns at harvest. Cage size varies from 25-200 m2 submerged at 1m depth.
- Provide submerged feeding trays for prawns cultured in cages. Formulated diets for shrimp or fish may be used.
- In both pond and cage culture, stock management could be a batch system (waiting until prawns reach average marketable sizes), or cull-harvest system where marketable size are periodically culled out before one final harvest of the stocks.
- In ponds, use shelters/substrates to increase pond surface area, improve survival of molting prawns, and allow for higher stocking densities.
- Prawns reach marketable size in 4 to 5 months. Mean size at harvest is 25-35 grams. Longer culture period may be required for higher stocking densities.
Technical assumptions for grow-out:
- Project duration : 5 yrs
- Stocking density : 15 pcs/sq.m.
- Cost of post-larvae : P 1.00
- Crops per year : 2
- Ave. weight at harvest : 30 g
- Recovery at harvest : 75 %
- Total number of stock/crop : 120,000
- Total recovery at harvest/crop : 90,000
- Total weight at harvest/crop : 2,700 kg
For more information, contact:
Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) – Aquaculture Department
Brgy. Buyu-an, Tigbauan,
Iloilo City, Philippines
Landline: (033) 330-7000
Email: [email protected]
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/seafdec.aqd
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Source and Photo: seafdec.org.ph