Fish Nutrition and Feed Technology (2+1)

Unit 18 - Feed Management

18.5.Sampling to monitor growth

To know the efficiency of a good feed a periodical sampling of population is done to check the growth and health of the shrimp. Shrimp can be collected from feed net or cast net, a minimum sample of 20 -30 numbers of shrimp should be collected weighed and checked. This process of checking should be followed for at least 5-6 times in every pond on every sampling day, by collecting the shrimps from different areas like inlets, outlets, corners and feed zone areas.

Comparison of the amount of the feed supplied and the growth of the shrimp allows the food convertion ratio (FCR) to be calculated. The FCR is a measure of the weight of shrimp produced per kg of food supplied.

The total FCR varies depending upon the stocking density, quality of the feed and the amount of the natural feed and the size at which the shrimps are harvested. Ideally it should be in between 1:1.5 to 1:1.8.