Stocking density is a critical factor influencing growth performance, survival, and production efficiency in Pacific white shrimp culture. In traditional shrimp polyculture systems, increasing stocking density is commonly applied to enhance production; however, excessive density often leads to reduced growth performance, lower survival, and inefficient feed utilization due to intensified biological competition and system carrying capacity limitations. This study therefore evaluated the effect of stocking density on the growth performance, survival, and feed utilization of Litopenaeus vannamei cultured in a traditional polyculture pond system. The experiment was conducted using three stocking densities (10, 20, and 30 ind. m-2) with three replications over an eight-week culture period. The polyculture system involved co-culturing shrimp with milkfish (Chanos chanos), which contributes to nutrient cycling and improves ecological balance within the pond environment. Results showed that shrimp reared at 10 ind. m-2 exhibited the best performance in terms of growth, survival, and feed efficiency, while higher densities resulted in reduced performance. The lowest feed conversion ratio (FCR) was observed at the lowest density, indicating efficient feed utilization within the optimal range for L. vannamei, whereas higher densities led to a substantial increase in FCR, reflecting reduced efficiency. Water quality parameters remained within suitable ranges and did not differ significantly among treatments. These findings suggest that stocking density primarily influences shrimp performance through biological interactions rather than environmental changes. Optimizing stocking density is therefore essential to achieve sustainable and efficient production in traditional shrimp polyculture systems.
Rahim et al. (Thu,) studied this question.