Intensification of Shrimp Culture in Earthen Ponds in South Carolina: Progress and Prospects

Experiments on the intensive cultivation of Pacific white shrimp, Penueus vunnumei, in ponds in South Carolina were begun in 1985 at the Waddell Mariculture Center. A preliminary study involved two 0.1 ha ponds stocked at an average of 43 postlarvae/m², with management practices based on those used in Taiwan for intensive pond culture of Penueus monodon. Harvest yields averaged 6,757 kg/ha for one crop, demonstrating the technical feasibility of such intensive culture of P. vannumei. In 1986, 2.5 ha of ponds at the Waddell Center (six ponds totaling 2.0 ha at 40 postlarvae/m² and two totaling 0.5 ha at 60/m²) yielded a total of 13,606 kg (5,442 ke/hn). These results were obtained even though aeration and water exchange rates were substanthlly reduced and South Carolina experienced its worst heat wave and drought. This served as a pilot-sde, proof-ofconcept test. Tank studies in 1985 and 1986 showed little effect of stocking density on shrimp growth rate at densities of 20–100 animals/m². This was confirmed in ponds in 1987 when no differences in growth rates were observed at densities of 20–100 postlarvae/m². Harvest biomass increased directly with stocking density in all trials, reaching a maximum of 12,680 kg/ha/crop at 100 shrimp/m² in 1987. Initial attempts to intensify production in the nascent South Carolina shrimp farming industry occurred in 1986, when approximately 32 ha of private ponds were stocked at densities of 10–32 postlarvae/m². Farm harvests increased with stocking density, with maximum yield of 3,656 kg/ ha/crop. This trend toward intensification in the private sector is continuing, and in 1987 maximum harvests from private ponds were 5,050 kg/ha from a 0.3 ha pond and 4,625 kg/ha from a 1.5 ha pond. Prospects for further implementation of intensive culture in the private sector appear excellent, with yields of ≥ 10,000 kg/ha/crop expected from private farms within the next few years.