Shrimp farming - a status review

The ever increasing demand for shrimp and the resultant pressure on the fishery has led to stagnation or fluctuation in the yield in recent years. Research and development activities carried out by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute aimed at improving shrimp production, harnessing both capture and culture fisheries, have yielded wealth of information over the past decades. The finding that the yield from the traditional practices of shrimp farming prevalent in India is only a fraction of what is actually possible from such fields has led to the proposition of the improved technology of selective farming of only the commercially more important species of shrimps ensuring improvement in the quality, quantity and profitability. Research undertaken by the CMFRI on culture system, shrimp seed resources including hatchery production of seed, shrimp feed formulation and farming trials have been helpful in developing suitable package of practices for the sustainable farming of shrimps. Extension machinery including publications, training programmes at operator, trainer level and field level extension programmes have been instrumental in taking the know how to the user community. Assessment of the prospects and problems of shrimp culture development has also been accomplished