Commercial grow‐out performance and cost‐benefit analysis for farm production of the brown tiger shrimp Penaeus esculentus.

Abstract

The brown tiger shrimp Penaeus esculentus is a valuable Australian shrimp species which has aquaculture potential as an alternative species for commercial culture. Commercial grow-out of P. esculentus demonstrated that this species can be grown to a marketable size in a period well within the conventional grow-out season for Australian shrimp farms. A bioeconomic model was developed to quantify the economic feasibility of commercial production of P. esculentus relative to the more commonly farmed species Penaeus monodon. The cost-benefit analysis supports the potential of P. esculentus to be grown with similar profitability to P. monodon, although farm trials of P. monodon production resulted in a higher profit per ha. A scenario analysis was used to identify the critical values of several parameters that would make P. esculentus as profitable as P. monodon. Importantly, the inherently slower growth rate of P. esculentus compared to P. monodon is compensated for by the better prices received by P. esculentus. A 5% increase in growth for P. esculentus would generate equal profitability. This growth improvement could be achieved through selective breeding or further development of a specific P. esculentus diet The outcome of this analysis confirms the potential for P. esculentus to be cost-effectively grown as an additional species by Australian shrimp farmers.