A Detailed Guide to Sand Shrimp Farming Technology, from Beginner to Master
Sand shrimp (Metapenaeus ensis), as one of the popular types of shrimp, is likewise favored by farmers and is a delicacy on the dining table. In recent years, more and more people have been farming sand shrimp, because they have seen how popular sand shrimp is in the market. At present, the domestic farming market is still developing continuously, with great development potential in the coming years, so the prospects for sand shrimp farming are very good.
Sand Shrimp Farming Technology
Sand shrimp is omnivorous with a tendency toward animal food. The farming cycle is 100-120 days, and the shrimp body can reach 8-10 cm. Farming technology is crucial for farmers, and how to produce a high-quality, high-yield product is the primary consideration.
1. Pond conditions and cleaning. Choose a freshwater pond or shrimp pond with an area of 3-5 mu, a water depth of 1.5-2.5 m, abundant freshwater sources, no pollution, and a sandy bottom.
2. Fertilizing and cultivating bait. One week before stocking the shrimp fry, filter the water through a 60-80 mesh sieve cloth, fill with water to 30 cm, and apply 50 kg of base fertilizer (fermented livestock manure) or 5 kg of urea per mu to cultivate basic bait.
3. Stocking shrimp fry. Generally, shrimp fry can be stocked in late May when the water temperature stabilizes at 18-20°C. The shrimp fry need more than one week of desalination treatment, and can only be stocked when the specific gravity is below 1.003. Generally, 30,000-40,000 shrimp fry of 0.7-1.0 cm are stocked per mu; fry below 0.7 cm need to be temporarily reared.
4. Feeding bait. Within 1 month after the shrimp fry are put into the pond, there is basically no need to feed compound bait; they mainly rely on plankton in the pond for food. After 1 month, feed compound bait, supplemented with fresh fish, shellfish meat, etc. The feeding rate is generally 3%-5% of the shrimp body weight. From July to September, the feeding amount can be appropriately increased, with the principle of leaving no residual bait, and the feeding frequency is 3 times per day.
5. Water regulation and disease prevention. Ten days after stocking the shrimp fry, begin gradually adding water, adding 10-15 cm each week. In hot seasons, change 20-30 cm of water every 2-3 days. About every half month, apply 5-10 kg of quicklime per mu, slaked into slurry and splashed over the whole pond, which both improves water quality and bottom quality and sterilizes and promotes molting and growth. At the same time, at 15-20 days, prepare medicated bait with 1‰-3‰ garlic and feed it continuously for 3-5 days.
6. Harvesting. Generally, after 80-100 days of farming, when the shrimp body reaches 7-10 cm, they can be harvested and sold according to market conditions. They can be caught with nets or harvested by draining the water. For dry live transport out of water for 36 hours, the survival rate can reach 90%.
Living Habits of Sand Shrimp
Sand shrimp is a shallow-sea marine shrimp, widely inhabiting sea areas with sandy bottoms, sandy-mud bottoms, and mud bottoms. It is distributed within the 50 m isobath along the coast, with a greater number within 10 m. Metapenaeus ensis has a very wide water temperature adaptation range, distributed in sea areas at 8-29°C, and the suitable farming water temperature is 18-25°C. Metapenaeus ensis is a euryhaline species, and the salinity range can be between 0‰ and 34‰. Its feeding habits are very omnivorous, mainly preying on benthic organisms, and also feeding on bottom plankton and nekton.
Morphological Characteristics of Sand Shrimp
Everyone has seen sand shrimp. When raw, the body is transparent; after cooking, the shell turns red and the meat is snow-white. The upper edge of the rostrum has 6-9 teeth, and the lower edge has no teeth. There is no central groove. The upper flagellum of the first antenna is about 1/2 the length of the carapace. Abdominal segments 1-6 have a longitudinal ridge on the dorsal surface, and the telson has no lateral spines. The first pair of walking legs has a ischial spine, and the last pair of walking legs has no exopod. The morphological characteristics of Metapenaeus affinis are similar to those of Metapenaeus ensis, except that its abdominal swimming legs are bright red, the male copulatory organ is "Y"-shaped, the female copulatory organ is "C"-shaped, and the central plate is platform-shaped.
Origin of Sand Shrimp
Sand shrimp originates from China, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia. It is mainly distributed along the east coast of Japan, the East China Sea and South China Sea of China, and the areas of the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia. In China, it is widely distributed in coastal waters south of the Shandong Peninsula. It is also distributed in the areas of the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia.
Complete Collection of Sand Shrimp Recipes
Recipe 1: Blanched Sand Shrimp
Ingredients: sand shrimp, white sugar, cooking wine, salt, vinegar, soy sauce, scallion and ginger
Method
1. First wash the sand shrimp and cut off the legs and shrimp whiskers.
2. Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil, add two small spoons of salt, and put in scallion, ginger, shrimp, and an appropriate amount of cooking wine.
3. After the water boils again, cook for 2-3 minutes and then remove.
4. Make the dipping sauce: cut two or three slices of ginger into minced pieces, add them to a small bowl of vinegar, add a little soy sauce and one spoon of sugar.
Recipe 2: Salt and Pepper Garlic Sand Shrimp
Ingredients: sand shrimp, green chili, red chili, salt and pepper powder, salt, garlic, old ginger, scallion
Method
1. Wash the sand shrimp and drain the water, butterfly them open and remove the digestive tract.
2. Use a garlic press to press the garlic cloves into minced garlic, cut old ginger into shreds, cut fragrant scallion into sections, and cut green and red chilies into small cubes for later use.
3. Pour an appropriate amount of corn oil into a wok and wait until the temperature reaches about 50 degrees, then pour in the butterflied sand shrimp and stir-fry until the shrimp shells are crispy, then remove and set aside.
4. Pour the minced garlic, ginger shreds, and fragrant scallion sections into the oil just used to fry the shrimp and saute until fragrant, then pour in the diced green and red chilies and the set-aside sand shrimp and stir-fry. At this point, add an appropriate amount of salt and pepper powder and salt, stir evenly, and then plate.
Recipe 3: Spicy Sand Shrimp
Ingredients: sand shrimp, green pointed chili, red pointed chili, cilantro, cooking wine, onion, Sichuan pepper, chili sauce, pepper powder, chicken powder, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, ginger, garlic, scallion, white sugar, chili oil
1. Remove the heads of the sand shrimp, cut off the shrimp legs, pick out the digestive tract on the back, wash and drain, put into a bowl, add a little salt, pepper powder, and cooking wine, mix well, and marinate for 20 minutes; wash the green and red pointed chilies and onion and cut into small cubes, chop the ginger and garlic, cut the scallion into sections, and cut the cilantro into sections.
2. Put an appropriate amount of oil into the wok, heat until 50% hot, then add the marinated shrimp, fry until the shrimp body turns red, then fry over high heat for about one minute, remove, and drain the oil.
3. Heat the wok and add oil, add Sichuan pepper and fry until fragrant, then remove the Sichuan pepper and discard it, then add minced ginger and garlic and chili sauce, and stir-fry until fragrant.
4. Add the green and red pointed chilies and chopped onion, and stir-fry until fragrant.
5. Add the fried shrimp, an appropriate amount of oyster sauce, chicken powder, and a little white sugar, and stir-fry evenly.
6. Add scallion sections and light soy sauce, drizzle in a little chili oil, stir-fry evenly, then turn off the heat, and finally add cilantro and stir-fry evenly.
We should all marvel at the many and varied ways to prepare shrimp. Taking sand shrimp as an example, although the editor only briefly introduced a few above, everyone can use their imagination and come up with new variations. The shrimp meat is white and looks good and tastes good however it is prepared, and the key point is that its nutritional value is super high. Therefore, sand shrimp farming is also a good and promising entrepreneurial project. I hope the above knowledge about sand shrimp farming can be helpful to everyone.