How to Raise & Produce Shrimp

The market for farm-raised shrimp sees increasing success, especially in the United States, as the demand for organic and locally grown food rises. Commercial and high-density shrimp farming ventures can require a large investment for risky profit, but raising shrimp yourself allows for the control of environmental factors to create sustainable and natural farms with a healthy crop. Home shrimp farms, whether for profit or personal sustenance, can produce a sizable harvest with relatively minimal time and resources.

Things You'll Need

  • Excavator, or construction equipment
  • 342-pounds of alfalfa pellets
  • 10-pounds of triple super-phosphate
  • Shrimp juveniles
  • 1820-pounds per acre of sinking catfish pellets
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Instructions

    • 1

      Find a suitable location for a shrimp pond. Ideally, the pond will be dug from ground with a clay content of at least 25-percent.

    • 2

      Excavate a pond out of the earth anywhere from 1/10-acre in size to 5-acres. Hire an excavator for such a large job, or purchase construction equipment yourself. Shrimp ponds should extend to a depth of approximately 4-feet, and feature wide and sturdy dikes surrounding the pond, strong enough to support a large vehicle. Build the bottom of the pond with a slight slope towards one corner for easier drainage and harvesting.

    • 3

      Fill the pond with freshwater, since for homemade, smaller forays into the shrimp producing business, freshwater shrimp farming is the most popular option. The water should have a pH level between 7.8- and 8.5-pH. Remove all aquatic weeds and other aquatic life from the water.

    • 4

      Fertilize the water of the pond with alfalfa pellets about 14 days before stocking the pond with young shrimp by spreading the whole bottom of the pond with the pellets. Use 250-pounds of pellets per acre of pond.

    • 5

      Dissolve 10-pounds of triple super-phosphate into the water for each acre.

    • 6

      Spread more alfalfa pellets throughout the whole pond the next day, 13 days before stocking the pond, this time with 6-pounds of pellets per acre each day for six days. On the seventh day before stocking, distribute 8-pounds of alfalfa pellets evenly throughout the pond for each of the seven days before stocking.

    • 7

      Stock the pond with juvenile shrimp from a freshwater shrimp hatchery. The hatcheries will either deliver shrimp to your location or use an airplane to ship the juveniles depending on your distance. Buy enough shrimp, usually about 10-cents per shrimp, to have 10,000 shrimp for every acre of the pond.

    • 8

      Feed the shrimp daily for 16 weeks before harvesting them. On the first and second week, feed 10-pounds of sinking catfish pellets (28-percent protein content) for each acre. Feed 12-pounds per acre daily in week three and four. Use 14-pounds per acre in weeks five and six, then increase to 16-pounds per acre the seventh and eighth week, then feed 18-pounds per acre in weeks nine and 10. For the remaining six weeks, continue to feed the shrimp 20-pounds per acre daily.

    • 9

      Drain the pond after 16 weeks and use nets to harvest the shrimp. Pack them in ice for sale.