Detailed Explanation of Key Points for Sandworm Pond Farming Techniques

The sandworm, scientifically known as Sipunculus nudus, has a shape much like an intestine and prefers burrowing. It requires a growing environment free of any pollution and rich in nutrients. Although it is not as prized as sea cucumber, shark fin, or abalone, its delicious, crisp, and tender flavor surpasses that of sea cucumber and shark fin. Artificial breeding and farming of sandworms have now been achieved. Let us take a look at sandworm pond farming techniques together!

Pond Conditions

Sandworm farming ponds are generally 3 to 5 mu in area, rectangular or square in shape, with a water depth of 80 to 120 cm. The bottom substrate should preferably be muddy-sandy, with a sand content above 70%, and it should be loose and coarse. The pond embankments should be sturdy and durable, the pond should have good water retention, and the pond water should be able to drain naturally. The water source should be abundant, the water quality good, and there should be no industrial or domestic sewage flowing in nearby.

Pond Disinfection

1. Pond clearing: After harvesting the worms, close the sluice gates and dry the pond, repair the embankments, clear the pond bottom, and dig a ring ditch around the inside of the pond with a ditch width of 50 cm. The pond is divided into blocks, each block 200 to 250 cm wide, with a 50 cm wide ditch left between blocks for drainage and operation. After the farming block surfaces are divided, they are turned over and raked, then flattened and smoothed with wooden boards, pressed from both sides of the block toward the center into a “road shape,” so that water does not accumulate on the block surface.

2. Disinfection and water fertilizing: The leveled pond should undergo chemical clearing 10 days before stocking. Bleaching powder can be made into an emulsion and splashed over the entire pond at a rate of 8 to 10 kg per mu. After the fertilizer effect period has passed, store water to cultivate basic bait organisms. The water inlet should be filtered with an 80-mesh sieve silk mesh bag, and water should be let in to 40 to 50 cm. For fertilizing the water, fermented farmyard manure can be used at 200 kg per mu, spread on the farming block surfaces, or 3 kg of nitrogen fertilizer and 1 kg of phosphate fertilizer can be applied per mu.

Farming Management

1. Stocking time: Sandworms are stocked around Qingming Festival, with 50 kg of seedlings put in per mu, at a size of more than 400 worms per kg. The seedlings should be intact individuals without injury and dark brown in color. Stocking should preferably be carried out on sunny days, with the pond seawater salinity at around 25‰, and the salinity difference between the farming water body and the seedling nursery should not exceed 5‰. The stocking density should preferably be 30 worms per square meter. The seedlings should be evenly scattered on the farming block surfaces and allowed to naturally burrow into the sand and mud.

2. Pond management: 2 to 3 days after the sandworm seedlings are stocked, inspect the pond to check the survival rate of the stocked seedlings. If a low survival rate is found, immediately restock. After that, inspect the pond every week, and regularly maintain the ditches and embankments. In summer, promptly dredge the ditches, level the block surfaces into a “road shape,” prevent water from accumulating on the block surfaces, and make the block surfaces firm, forming a stable living environment that facilitates the growth of sandworms.

3. Water level regulation: During the sandworm grow-out period, pay attention to regulating the water level according to climate changes. In spring and autumn when the weather is warm, store shallow water; in summer when it is hot and in winter when it is severely cold, deepen the water level. Generally, change the water once a week, and dry the pond for 2 to 3 days each month. Take advantage of pond drying to go into the pond and remove fish, shrimp, crabs, Enteromorpha, and other harmful organisms. During the sandworm farming period, according to the pond conditions, appropriately fertilize to propagate algae or feed some artificial bait as supplementary feed.