Shrimp polyculture: a potentially profitable, sustainable, but uncommon aquacultural practice

Abstract

Shrimp polyculture is not yet a common practice among farmers; however, this activity represents an important alternative to solving and ⁄ or minimizing some of the problems that shrimp aquaculture has faced in the past two decades (environmental pollution, diseases and decreasing prices). In this context, many benefits have been achieved with some polyculture practices. Several species from diverse trophic levels have the potential to be co-cultured with shrimps. A good knowledge of the species that are candidates for polyculture and an adequately designed culture system are the most important points to consider when co-culturing shrimp with other species. The present paper is a review of the past, present and future of shrimp polyculture with other organisms.

Farming system transformation yields significant reduction in nutrient loading: Case study of Hongze Lake, Yangtze River Basin, China

“…Interaction between fish and aquatic macrophytes in inland waters has been acknowledged previously (Petr, 2000), and also the use of aquatic plants in reducing the nutrient loading from aquaculture effluent is being increasingly recognized and the consequent economic gains acknowledged (Turcios and Papenbrock, 2014). The modern transformation of polyculture into multi-trophic aquaculture, particularly in marine environments, using plants and filer feeding molluscs is another example of the use of plants to maintain water quality in aquaculture systems, and indeed also obtain an additional harvestable product thereby improving the economic viability and sustainability of such practices (Amir, 2008;Martinez-Porchas et al, 2010;Huo et al, 2012). From the viewpoint of sustainable aquaculture development, it is crucial to estimate gross N and P loading from the aquatic farming systems in the reclaimed wetlands around Hongze Lake.…”

Stocking densities and feeding strategies in shrimp and tilapia polyculture in tanks

“…A production strategy that combines two or more complementary species can increase productivity by an adjustment in the food chain structure which is rearranged to make a better use of natural food, reducing the demand for artificial food (Milstein, 1997;Lutz, 2003). A proper combination of ecologically different species at adequate densities will make the system more efficient because grazing pressure is distributed among different feeding niches and levels, and wastes from one species can be utilized by another (Milstein, 1997).…”

“…Tilapia-shrimp or tilapia-prawn polyculture adoption has been expanded among producers in many countries, and some studies have been conducted to test the efficiency of these systems (Candido et al, 2005;Tendencia et al, 2006Tendencia et al, , 2011Muangkeow et al, 2007;Uddin et al, 2007Uddin et al, , 2009El-Sherif & Ali Mervat, 2009;Souza et al, 2009;Martínez-Porchas et al, 2010;Yuan et al, 2010;Shahin et al, 2011;Bessa Junior et al, 2012).…”

Effect of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) on the growth performance of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) in a sequential polyculture system

“…The aquaculture production in 2008 was 52.5 million ton, with a value of US$ 98.4 billion (FAO, 2010). However, the shrimp aquaculture industry faces several problems, including contamination caused by farm effluent (Martínez-Porchas et al, 2010). Therefore, it is important to develop some strategies to improve the productivity of shrimp farms and minimize these problems.…”