AQUA 2024

August 26 - 30, 2024

Copenhagen, Denmark

CIRCULAR INTENSIVE SHRIMP AQUACULTURE: ZERO DISCHARGE – REDUCED INPUT AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Nhut.N1*, Huong. M.X2, Dang. L.T3, Duy. N. V3, Nguyen.T.H4, Tung. N. T1, Kabir, K A5

 

1Research Institute for Aquaculture No2;

2Camau Department of Science and Technology;

3SAEN company;

4Thai Nguyen company;

5CIRAD, UMR ISEM, 34398, Montpellier, France.

 

*116 Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, Dakao ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Email: nhut300676@yahoo.com

 



Whiteleg shrimp is the top aquaculture product, reaching nearly 7 million tons in 2023 and produced mainly in intensive farms. In addition to the big contribution to income, livelihood and global seafood trade, this also creates environmental concern as intensification often comes with discharge of wastewater into the open waters of farming landscape. A practical integrated multitrophic aquaculture (IMTA) system was designed to maintain intensive shrimp farming with “ZERO” water discharge for a consecutive seven production cycles at industrial scale indicating not only environmental benefit but also resilience of the system (no disease over all these cycles) by shared and interactive ecosystem role of different trophic component. The pilot was established in 2023 in Ca Mau province in 3 farms over 6 ha area. Shrimp waste was pumped to fish (tilapia, mullet and catfish) followed to green and red seaweed and then back to the shrimp system. The yield from the pilot was respectively shrimp 60 tons/ha/cycle, fish (all) 2 tons/ha/year and seaweed (all) tons/ha/year. This system used 1200% less water (calculation per a crop, much more efficiency of water utilization), 15% less feed and 5% less energy (electricity) compared to the conventional intensive system in the locality, and 50% increased shrimp production area within the farm area (shrimp: non-shrimp area ratio) compared to the existing zero discharge models in the region of leading to higher economic gain and environmental benefit.