Prawn Hatchery Nonfinacial Project

What is prawn hatchery?
The hatchery is an initial phase in prawn culture, has become an

indispensable step to meet the growing fry requirement of the industry. A prawn
hatchery must be constructed on a suitable site. Several points must be
considered while starting a prawn hatchery business.
MARKET POTENTIAL
Fast urbanisation, changes in life style and food habits of consumers,

improvement in standards of living etc. have resulted into increase in per capita
consumption of egg and prawn but per capita consumption of these
commodities in our country is still far below that of developed countries
showing enormous potential/scope for prawn development. Increasing number
of prawn farms in different areas has emphasised that hatcheries should be set
up in potential areas. Exorbitantly increasing transportation cost and mortality
during transportation of day old shrimp larvae have also emphasised that
hatcheries should be set up on decentralised basis hereby. In India, the
hatcheries in private sector had their emergence in early sixties in collaboration
with some famous main hatcheries based in Canada and America. Such
collaborations are still continuing involving many more foreign based
hatcheries. However, some old hatcheries have taken up their own Prawn
Breeding Programmes. In public sector too, significant contribution has been
made by the Central Prawn Breeding Farms, Ministry of Agriculture and the
ICAR in developing high yielding commercial shrimp larvae.
BASIS AND PRESUMPTIONS
The project profile has been prepared based upon the following presumptions:
1. Working hours/shift : 8 hrs.

2. No. of shift/day : 1
3. Working days : 300
4. Total number of working hrs. : 2400 hrs.
5. Working efficiency : 75%
6. Time period for achieving maximum : 3 years capacity utilisation
7. Labour charge : As per the minimum Wages Act of State Govt.
TECHNICAL ASPECTS
Process of Manufacture
Step 1: Site selection

Careful selection of suitable site for fresh water prawn farming is an
essential prerequisite for successful farming operation. The site
selection plays an important role as the entire management aspect of the
farm ultimately depends on specific conditions of the site. The aspects
to be considered for site selection are as follows:
Climatic conditions: Warm climate is the most important factor
affecting prawn production. Tropical and sub-tropical climates are most
suitable when the culture period is too long while warm temperate
climate is suitable where culture period is short. Also other climatic
conditions like rainfall, evaporation, sunlight, wind speed etc. also play
a critical role.
Topography of the location: The ideal site must be flat or gently
sloped. Low-lying lands, waterlogged areas, salinity and alkalinity
affected areas could be effectively used for construction of Scampi
farms.
Soil Quality: The soil texture must be sandy-clay loam or silt clay loam
with at least 85% water retention capacity. The clay content in the soil
should not exceed 60%. Acid sulphate soils should be avoided for
freshwater prawn farming.
Water Quality: The availability of quality and quantity of water is a
critical factor. Moreover water should be free from pollution. The pH of
water should be of 7.0 to 8.5. The water temperature should range from
18°C to 34°C. Dissolved oxygen content of water should be 3 to 7 ppm.
Step 2: Farm Construction

After fulfilling all the suitable site location requirements, the next step
is the construction of farm. The design must suit the operational
convenience and biological necessities of the prawn.
Size and depth: For operational convenience a minimum area of one
hectare is widely accepted size of the farm. Depending on the local
conditions the size may vary between half to 5 hectares. Though square
farm is more economical, rectangular farms are more suitable for the
harvesting. The constructed pond should have the capacity to hold at
least 1.5 to 2 metre water inside.
The dyke: The bottom of ponds needs to be sloped towards the
drainage point or dyke. The drainage system should be designed
carefully to prevent mixing of outlet water with incoming water.
Water supply and Drainage: Appropriate water supply and drainage
systems have to be designed keeping in view the water source. The
ponds should be easy to drain out the water. Ground water is preferable
for filling the ponds as it is free from pollution. When using canal
water, it should be made free from pollution. Care should be taken to
provide adequate micro filters for removing the eggs and larvae of
fishes especially of omnipresent Tilapia.
Step 3: Production system

Female brood stock is usually obtained from grow-out ponds or from
capture fisheries. Normally, "berried" or egg-carrying females are used
only once.
Fertilization: A typical male to female ratio is maintained in brood
stock holding systems. Within a few hours of copulation, external
fertilization occurs and the eggs are transferred to the brood chamber
beneath the abdomen of the female. Eggs are orange until 2-3 days
before hatching and just before hatching, they become grey-black. The
eggs remain attached to the female during embryonic development. At
hatching, free-swimming zoeae are produced.
Larval development: First stage zoeae are very small in size about
2mm and grow through 11 larval stages, to almost 8 mm at
metamorphosis into post larval forms. Individual metamorphosis can be
achieved in 16 days but usually takes much longer, depending on
environmental conditions.
Feed and feeding: Feed management plays a very crucial role in prawn
culture. More over natural food is preferred over supplementary food.
But due to lack of natural food and to increase the growth and quality of
production supplementary food is used.
Supplementary food include agricultural and animal husbandry by-
products along with locally available cheap feeds like broken rice,
tapioca root, trash fish, vegetable and animal feeds mixed in adequate
proportions. The feed is produced in pellet form, which should sink in
water quickly and should be intact for at least few hours till they are
completely consumed by the prawns.
Prawns are generally fed only once a day. Food pellets are distributed
uniformly on the surface of the pond or placed in wide containers set up
at several points along the margin of the pond. The rate of feeding
depends on the age of the prawns.
Step 4: Harvesting and processing

Pond reared giant prawns reach marketable size within 5-8 months
depending on the stocking rate and other culture conditions. Generally,
giant prawns do not grow at uniform rate and difference in size appears
in spite of stocking the seed from same brood. Hence size for harvest
must be checked from time to time.
Harvesting can be done partially of completely. Partial harvesting is
done for removing larger prawns from the pond at regular intervals. For
partial harvesting nets are specially designed to capture only large
prawns and exclude smaller ones.
In complete harvesting prawns are harvested by draining the ponds.
Draining is done in early mornings to avoid overheating of water when
only little water is left in the pond. In the final stage when the prawns
are near the outlet they must be provided with fresh oxygenated water.
Careful handling is essential during harvesting to ensure good quality
products. Freshwater prawns tend to go "mushy" if not handled and
processed correctly.
Firstly, it is essential to prevent prawns from becoming crushed during
harvesting.
Secondly, if they are not going to be sold live, they should be killed in
a mixture of water and ice at 0°C immediately after harvesting and
washed in chlorinated tap water. Prawns for live sale can be transported
in aerated water at 20-22°C. Prawns sold fresh must not be kept on ice
for more than 3 days. Prawns for frozen sale must be quickly frozen at -
10°C and stored at -20°C or below.
Pollution Control
If hatchery is run on scientific lines, no significant pollution is created.

However, hatchery unit must take care in maintaining proper hygienic and
sanitary conditions, in and around hatchery and poultry sheds. Proper disposal
facility should be made available for dumping refuse and discharge of water
from the hatchery. Litter should be replaced at frequent intervals and disposed
off early. Entrepreneur should get No Objection Certificate from State Pollution
Control Board.
Energy Conservation
Main energy source in a hatchery is electricity and to some extent diesel to run
generator in emergency. Electric bulbs of only required wattage should be fitted
in prawn sheds where these are required otherwise tube lights of improved
design having electronic choke should be fitted and lighted only when required.
Best use of natural light should be made as far as possible. Generator should be
well maintained and serviced at regular intervals and should be run only in case
of electric failure/load shedding. Only essential equipments should be run when
generator is in operation and the load should be kept to its optimum. Proper
ventilation and cooling should be maintained in generator room.
Accessibility:
Good roads near the hatchery will facilitate procurement of materials required
for operations. Handling stress and transport expenses should be minimized
during spawner procurement and disposal of fry if the market is near. Air
transportation should be available when the market is far.
In general, the transport conditions for prawns are:
1. Post-larvae transport:
Strong transparent plastic bags (similar to the one used for fish transport) are
filled to 1/3 with water from original post-larvae ponds. Usually 80-100 (for
tiger prawns; density of animals depend on prawn species) post-larvae per litre
are added to bag (fewer animals for longer trips). The other 2/3 of the bag is
filled with oxygen. Animals can survive up to 16- hours in these bags. Another
common practice during transport of post-larvae is to add Artemia nauplii to
bags to avoid cannibalism among prawns. Bags should be placed in polystyrene
boxes during transport. Small ice bricks can be placed, securely taped to the lid
of the boxes (to prevent direct contact with the water) to prevent temperature
rising.
2. Adult prawn transport:
Similar bags used for post-larvae can be used to transport adult animals during
air transportation. Similar to post-larvae, water from prawn’s ponds should be
used for transport. Density of animals per bag will vary according to size of
animals (larger animals consume more oxygen; fewer animals should be placed
in each bag). As a general rule, prawns around 17-18g should be transported at a
density of 7 animals/litre; smaller animals (3-4g) should be transported at a
density of 30 animals/litre. Adult prawns can also be transported in trucks
equipped with fish transport containers. Similar animal densities used for air
transport can be applied for terrestrial trips. Generally transport containers are
equipped with air compressor (battery) to maintain high oxygen levels during
transport. The containers should be filled with water from prawn’s ponds.
During transportation oxygen levels and temperature must be checked.
Management of Prawn hatchery:
Each cycle of operations in a prawn hatchery takes up to 40 days, including the

time essential to prepare for the next cycle. Careful attention to all aspects of
Prawn hatchery management is essential to achieve success (the production of
the maximum number of healthy post-larvae at the cheapest cost).
Water quality management of prawn hatchery
To obtain clean and clear water without any suspended particles and harmful
pathogens requires settlement of the pumped water, chemical treatment with
chlorine, de-chlorination, filtration through rapid sand filters and biological
filters, UV filtration for algal culture and larval rearing.
The quality of the seawater to be used for spawning and larval rearing is the
main important among these factors. Clean unpolluted seawater with no
suspended impurities is necessary for the operations and this should be the
foremost consideration in the selection of a site for the hatchery. In almost all
the hatcheries the seawater is taken in for use only after filtration which can be
effected through various means such as elaborate fast or slow sand filters or
simpler system of settling and filtering through appropriate mesh cloth filters or
even by introducing simple mechanical filters in the water inlet system of the
pumps.
The actual type of filter system to be used can only be determined after the
water quality is assessed but it must aim at removal of all suspended matter and
such plank tonic elements which are likely to develop multiple or bloom
subsequently.

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Prawn Hatchery Nonfinacial Project

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What is prawn hatchery?

The hatchery is an initial phase in prawn culture, has become an

Fast urbanisation, changes in life style and food habits of consumers,

BASIS AND PRESUMPTIONS

1. Working hours/shift : 8 hrs.

Step 1: Site selection

Step 2: Farm Construction

Step 3: Production system

Step 4: Harvesting and processing

If hatchery is run on scientific lines, no significant pollution is created.

In general, the transport conditions for prawns are:

2. Adult prawn transport:

Management of Prawn hatchery:

Each cycle of operations in a prawn hatchery takes up to 40 days, including the

Water quality management of prawn hatchery

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