BIOECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF THE ANNUAL INTENSIVE PRODUCTION OF WHITE SHRIMP Litopenaeus vannamei IN A PHOTO-HETEROTROPHIC SYSTEM WITH MINIMAL SEAWATER-ADDITION IN THE SEMIARID REGION OF MEXICO

Humberto Villarreal*, José Naranjo, Alfredo Hernández, Luis Daniel Moreno, Mayra Vargas & José Andrés Hernández.
 
Biohelis®, Innovation and Technology Park. Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste S.C. (CIBNOR). La Paz, Baja California Sur, México.
humberto04@cibnor.mx
 

In Northwest Mexico, shrimp farms have been using semi-intensive systems based on water exchange over the last 20 years. The industry faces severe challenges due to the presence of diseases (WSSV, EMS), increases in production costs and lack of environmental sustainability. CIBNOR has been working with producers in Baja California Sur, a state located in the desert belt of Northwest Mexico where, since 2010, it has been possible to obtain 2 cycles/year with annual yields of 20 tons/ha, using 30 hp/ha of aeration and 25% water exchange. Water exchange increases costs and biosecurity risks, so the objective of this study was to determine the level of variability on water quality, annual yields and production costs in two photoheterotrophic cultivation cycles (spring-summer, summer-fall) and to determine economic viability. We used six 1,000 m2 PVC lined ponds at Biohelis®, the Innovation and Technology Park operated by CIBNOR, with 24 h aeration, that was increased, depending on O2 demand, from 20 to 40 hp/ha. Seawater was incorporated in weekly pulses, for an equivalent of less than 2%/day, to maintain water level, so there was no water exchange. A commercial pelleted ration with 35% CP was fed 2 times/day. Spring-summer yields of L. vannamei after 105 days in the intensive photo-heterotrophic hypersaline system consistently reached 13,400 + 233 kg/ha/cycle with a mean final weight of 13.33 + 0.35 g (Figure1B). Yields for the summer-fall cycle reached 17,900 + 530 kg/ha, in 90 days. Mean final shrimp weight was 18.60 + 1.07 g (Figure 1A). A stochastic model was fitted to the growth, mortality and food conversion curves. Production costs were incorporated and sale prices were established from a model adjusted to historic prices for the mean size produced. Economic variables and financial indicators for each cycle are presented. Implications for the consolidation of shrimp culture in semiarid areas, based on innovative science-based technologies, are discussed.