Assessing the influence of fish waste hydrolysate, a byproduct of fish post-harvest, processing and fish markets, on the production performance of Penaeus monodon across diverse culture systems

The present study evaluated the ability of fish waste hydrolysate (FWH) to improve the growth and health of Penaeus monodon in outdoor tank systems and earthen ponds. The FWH is a value-added product prepared from marine fish trimmings/wastes from fish markets and processing units. A 60-day trial was conducted in an outdoor tank system with 7 doses of FWH (0, 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, and 160 ppm). The results indicated that P. monodon grown in treatments supplemented with FWH at 20 ppm and above had significantly improved specific growth rate (SGR), weight gain (WG), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) than control and lower doses of FWH (p < 0.05). Survival, average daily gain (ADG), and % weight gain followed similar trends. All FWH-treated groups exhibited significantly higher floc densities (p < 0.05), with enhanced phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance compared to the control. Haematological analysis indicated improved health status in FWH-treated shrimp. Subsequently, a field trial of P. monodon was conducted in farmer’s ponds in Kannur district, Kerala, India. The treatment pond was supplemented with 40 ppm FWH and the control pond was without FWH supplementation. A significant difference (p < 0.05) was observed in the growth (16% higher growth) of the animals in the FWH-supplemented pond compared to that in the control. The improved growth might be due to the enhanced natural food abundance of phytoplankton and zooplankton in the pond supplemented with FWH. This study highlights FWH as a sustainable approach to enhance P. monodon growth while converting fish waste into valuable protein.

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