Comparative costs of postlarval production from wild or domesticated Kuruma shrimp, Penaeus japonicus (Bate), broodstock

The present study compares the relative costs of stocking ponds with postla rvae from wild or domesticated Kuruma shrimp, Penaeus japonicus (Bate), bro odstock. Wild broodstock were obtained from a commercial trawler, Domestica ted broodstock were reared to harvest size (wet weight = 25 g) on a commerc ial farm and then transferred to controlled environment tanks where they we re grown to a final wet weight of 50 g. The costs of stocking ponds with po stlarvae were calculated from the observed reproductive output, the costs o f purchasing wild broodstock and the costs of domesticated broodstock produ ction in the controlled environment facility. Domesticated P, japonicus spa wned comparable numbers of eggs to wild broodstock of similar size, but hat ching success was significantly lower, A total of 12 domesticated P. japoni cus broodstock would be needed to produce the postlarvae to stock a 1-ha po nd, compared to only six wild broodstock. However, the much higher relative costs of wild broodstock means that the cost of using their postlarvae wou ld be Aus$851 per pond compared to Aus$390 for domesticated broodstock The present authors conclude that the use of domesticated P. japonicus broodsto ck could be a cost-effective alternative to wild broodstock in Australia an d in other countries where P. japonicus is farmed.