Shrimp hatchery operations of P.vannamei from the perspective our experience in commercial hatchery operations in India is briefly discussed under the following headings: Broodstock management, Live feed (Algae) culture and Artemia hatching, and, Larval rearing of shrimp.
Introduction of P.vannamei to India in the year 2009 brought about a paradigm shift in shrimp aquaculture industry resulting in substantial development both in infrastructure and production over these years. Currently PL production of shrimp in India ranges around 90 Billion from approximately 600 hatcheries. Our Company, Vaisakhi Marine Resources (P) Ltd., is one of the largest producers on shrimp seed in India, producing approximately 5 Billion postlarvae (PLs) from 8 hatcheries that we operate. Three out of our 8 hatcheries have been provided with broodstock management facility, wherein imported broodstock are maintained for maturation and nauplii production. Nauplii produced are supplied to all our hatcheries; excess nauplii is sold to other hatcheries also. Technical details of broodstock management, maturation and nauplii production are discussed Results on nauplii production is also discussed. Broodstock source selection is based on the following criteria viz., nauplii productivity, larval rearing performance, and more importantly farm performance of PLs.
Key points of algae culture discussed include use of multiple algal species such as Thalassiosira sp., and / or Chaetoceros sp., (main) supplemented by Isochrysis sp., Nannochloropsis sp., and Tetraselmis sp. Key points on larval culture discussed include use of Isolated, modular and biosecure facility, brisk stocking of nauplii, shutdown and disinfection after every production cycle, zero antibiotic use, regular use of probiotics and multi-species algal feeding. Cost of production of PLs and market price of seed over different years is also discussed. Reasons for India’s success with P.vannamei could be attributed to the following: control and regulations on broodstock, previously developed technology with indigenous species, availability of trained & experienced technical manpower, relatively well-developed infrastructure and demand versus supply gap in the market that existed in the early days.