Effects of stocking density on the performance of juvenile pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) in cages

By Elenise Gonçalves de Oliveira, A. Pinheiro, Valdemir Queiroz Oliveira, Antonio Givanilson Rodrigues da Silva, Manuella Gazzineo de Moraes, Í. R. C. B. Rocha, Rommel Rocha de Sousa, F. Costa. 2012

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Abstract Pirarucu, Arapaima gigas , is a carnivorous freshwater fish that exists along the Amazon Basin. This study investigated the effect of stocking density on growth performance and economic return of pirarucu in cages. Fish were stocked at densities of 10 or 12.5 fish/m 3 in 4.0-m 3 cages installed in Sitios Novos Reservoir (Ceara State, Brazil), with three replicate cages for each density. Fish were fed a formulated diet containing 40% crude protein and 14.2 MJ/kg of feed and cultured for 140 days. The following physicochemical parameters of the water were always at satisfactory levels for fish culture throughout the experiments: water temperatures ranged from 26.3 to 30.2 °C, DO 3.2 to 7.7 mg/L, pH 6.9 to 7.7 and transparency 100 to 130 cm. Survival was high and ranged between 100.0% and 94.7 ± 5.0% in cages at 10 and 12.5 fish/m 3 , respectively. Density significantly affected ( P 3 ) were not significantly ( P > 0.05) affected by stocking density. Economic analysis was emphasized mostly on sales price and pirarucu juveniles and feed costs. The total costs of production were estimated at US$4.52/kg and US$5.31/kg for stocking densities of 10 fish/m 3 and 12.5 fish/m 3 , respectively. At a local market price of US$5.55/kg, the model used suggests that a commercial enterprise can be profitable only for density of 10 fish/m 3 . Furthermore, the economic viability of implementing of pirarucu culture in cages was analyzed using profitability indicators such as internal rate of return (IRR), net present value (NPV) and payback period. The high survival, very fast growth and moderated production rates of pirarucu stocked demonstrate that cages are a viable alternative method to standard ponds for the commercial production of pirarucu. The economic indicators appear to be attractive, thus pirarucu cage culture can become a profitable industry.

Subfields: Aquatic Science, Immunology, Nature and Landscape Conservation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/371fb64c7e396599dfca51a6d5d3837dc8d116bb

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In Aquatic Science

In Immunology

In Nature and Landscape Conservation

Citations in the corpus

The impact of stocking density and dietary carbon sources on the growth, oxidative status and stress markers of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) reared under biofloc conditions (2020, background): “…and 4Ht=Hematocrit. growth performance and feed utilization which depends on the use of different C: N ratios and different feed intake levels as well as the differences in the carbon sources (Arnold et al., 2009; De Schryver and Verstraete, 2009; Wang et al., 2015; Zhao et al., 2016).”