STANDARDS IN AQUACULTURE

In line with the quality standards stipulated by importing countries, Marine Products Export Development Authority is monitoring the quality of the products during production seed in hatchery and grow out culture in farms.  MPEDA collects samples from hatcheries and farms under the purview of NRCP, CAA Act 2005 etc and analyze  the samples at its cost.   The test result  if found positive are notified to the particular hatchery/farm and advise necessary corrective steps.  Further follow up samples are collected from hatcheries/farms which test positive for prohibited items and if follow up samples also test positive, then action will be recommended against the violations as per provisions of law.
Source of seed and stocking densities
Intensive shrimp seed collection from the natural sources my lead to depletion of target and non-target species of fin and shell fish.
I	CATEGORY: SHRIMP SEED
	Following standards are recommended for the shrimp seed;
	i	Virus: Seeds should be free from any known virus tested by the available specific detection kits, using PCR techniques
	ii	Other standards
		Vibrio harveii	Nil
		Zoothamnium	Nil
		Stress test (by formalin)	100 ppm formalin >95% survival
		Stress test (Salinity)	Salinity drop from 30 ppt to 15 ppt – No mortality for 2 hours.
		Facility for testing the seed:
		The hatcheries should have the facilities for conducting the above, mentioned tests and if required, counter check, can be done at the recognized laboratories
	Shrimp disease, production loss and environment
	Outbreak of disease in shrimp culture system is related to the environmental factors such as deterioration of water quality, sedimentation and self-pollution. The production losses are also linked to the acid sulphate soil particularly in the areas
II	CATEGORY: SHRIMP FEED
		Parameters	Feed
			Starter	Grower	Finisher
		Crude protein (%)	40-45	30-35	30-35
		Non protein nitrogen (%)	<0 .2="" font="">	<0 .2="" font="">	<0 .2="" font="">
		Lipids (%)	6-8	6-8	6-8
		Crude Fibre (%)	3-4	3-5	3-5
		Digestible Energy (Kilocalory/kg of feed)	3200-3600	3200-3600	3200-3600
		Fatty acids Linoleic acid + Linolenic acid (%)	0.5	0.5	0.5
		Eicosapentenoic acid (EPA) and Decosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (%)	0.5	0.5	0.5
		Phospholipids (lecithin) (%)	1	0.4	0.4
		Cholesterol (%)	0.5	0.2	0.2
		Astaxanthine (ppm)	-	-	200
		Essential amino acids Arginine (%)	2.03-2.32	1.74-2.03	1.74-2.03
		Isoleucine (%)	1.225-1.4	1.05-1.225	1.05-1.225
		Methionine(%)	0.84-0.96	0.72-0.84	0.72-0.84
		Phenylalanine + Tyrosine (%)	1.89-2.16	1.62-1.89	1.62-1.89
		Phenylalanine (%)	1.4-1.6	1.2-1.4	1.2-1.4
		Tryptophan (%)	0.28-0.32	0.24-0.28	0.24-0.28
		Histidine (%)	0.735-0.84	0.63-0.735	0.63-0.735
		Lysine (%)	1.855-2.12	1.59-1.855	1.59-1.855
		Threonine (%)	1.26-1.44	1.08-1.26	1.08-1.26
		Valine (%)	1.4-1.6	1.2-1.4	1.2-1.4
	The quality of feed plays an Important role in waste output in shrimp culture, and there is scope to Improve pond environment by good feed management. Nutrients and organic loads are higher in ponds where shrimps are fed with trash fish and fresh diets than where palletized, moist or dry feeds are used. Fresh diets, Infrequent feeding and high stocking densities increase nitrogen loads in the waste water from the shrimp farms. A considerable amount of detritus and wastes often accumulate on the pond bottom, in areas where water circulation is slow, leading to increased BOD and release of harmful gases, which could cause stress on bottom living shrimps. On the contrary, regular feeding with pelletised diets is known to maximize the growth of shrimps and minimize the nutrient enrichment of the waste water. The feed waste plays an important role In the total waste loadings In the environment. This is because, feed settles directly on the pond bottom and the feed wastage can have a significant effect on sediment quality and ultimately the health of the shrimp which normally live at the bottom. Hence the use of wet diets such as fresh fish and invertebrates has to be reduced and preferably avoided in shrimp aquaculture systems. Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) should also be optimised. Monitoring of feed input is required to keep feed wastage to the minimum. Similarly, careful monitoring of standing stock in the ponds will also help to ensure that correct feeding levels are observed