Assessment of perceived farming risks,communication of risk management practices,and evaluation of their efficiency in Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) farming—a survey-based cross-sectional study

Aquaculture International - Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) farming is an important commercial aquaculture production system contributing substantially to the economic and societal...     

Techno-economic evaluation of Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer) nursery rearing in small net cages (hapas) under different coastal salinities

Nursery rearing is the critical interim phase in farming of Asian seabass fish (Lates calcarifer), which produce fish fingerlings as an input for grow-out farming. The present study evaluated the techno-economic performance of seabass nursery rearing in low and high saline coastal waters. The results indicated that seabass nursery rearing is technically efficient with a mean technical efficiency of 99.83% and 92.45%, respectively under low and high saline conditions. The mean survival of young fishes was 63.50% and 42.50% with a mean daily weight gain of 0.08 g and 0.15 g, respectively in low and high saline waters. While the benefit cost ratio (BCR) was 2.76 and 1.9, the internal rate of return (IRR) was calculated to be 300% and 130%, respectively, indicating the economic viability of nursery rearing under different salinity regimes. Furthermore, it was observed that nursery rearing in low saline waters was more efficient and highly remunerative. In the Indian socio-economic scenario, a mean monthly income per person spending 2 h per day was found to be 129 USD and 317 USD respectively in high and low saline nursery systems which is a considerable earning. The results explicitly stated that nursery rearing itself is an exclusively livelihood development activity for the coastal fisher families with an active participation of fisher women. Establishment of finfish hatcheries to ensure continued supply of seabass seeds is the key factor in facilitating wider adoption of nursery rearing as a sustainable farming activity.

     

Influence of dietary protein levels on growth,digestibility, digestive enzyme activity and stress tolerance in white‐leg shrimp,Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone, 1931), reared in high‐density tank trials

The effects of dietary protein (DP) levels on the growth, digestibility, digestive enzyme activity and stress tolerance of Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone, 1931) were investigated in high‐density (375 m^–3) tank trials. Shrimps (6.2 ± 0.2 g) were fed diets with five different protein levels (31%, 35%, 39%, 43% and 47%) for 60 days. The results showed that variations in DP significantly (P<0.05) influenced the growth performance, digestibility, enzyme activity and their ability to tolerate stress. Weight gain showed a linear increase in relation to crude protein (CP) up to 43% and showed a slight decrease with a further increase to 47%. Feed conversion ratio was observed to be the lowest in CP 43%: 2.53. A higher protein efficiency ratio was observed with the low‐protein diet CP31 (1.07); however, it was not significantly different from the rest of the dietary treatments. Protein digestibility was the highest (75.71%) in CP47 and the lowest (71.94%) in CP31. Protease activity ranged between 63.7 and 70.2 (U Protein^–1), and showed a positive correlation with the DP levels. Shrimp fed CP43 well tolerated a sudden decline in salinity and survived for 548.3 min in fresh water. Observations from this study indicate that a DP level around 43% could be optimum for L. vannamei in high‐density culture systems in the absence of natural productivity.