Shrimp farming in floating cages has advantages over conventional cultivation systems and is a potential
production alternative for low-income communities. We present advances in intensifying the cultivation of
L. vannamei in floating cages by testing high stocking densities and a large cage-size not previously used, and
introducing partial harvesting for the management of the high shrimp biomass. A 38-day nursery trial made
during 2006, using 9-m2
cages showed that the final weight of shrimp and specific growth rate (SGR)
were significantly (P< 0.05) greater when postlarvae was stocked at 950 and 1300 PL/m2
, rather than at
1600 PL/m2
. However, the highest number of juveniles per cage was obtained when the later stocking
density was used. A 62-day grow-out trial in 2006, using 9-m2 cages, resulted in a significantly lower growth
rate (0.17 g/day) when juveniles were stocked at 300/m2
, as compared to 0.18 and 0.18 g/day obtained at
200 and 250/m2
. The final shrimp biomass varied significantly among densities and ranged from 1.9 to
2.6 kg/m2
. There were no significant differences in final weight (11.3–12.0 g), survival (77% to 81%), and feed
conversion ratio (FCR) (0.84–0.93). A 58-day grow-out trial in 2006 using 200-m2 cages showed that the
final weight and growth rate were significantly greater (17.7 g and 0.27 g/day) when juveniles were stocked
at 45/m2
, as compared to 13.3 g and 0.20 g/day obtained at 180/m2
. This density did produce the highest
biomass yield (1.9 kg/m2
). A nursery trial was made during 2008, stocking at 1500 PL/m2 and obtaining
results that were consistent with those from the trial of 2006. A 93-day grow-out trial was made during 2008
stocked with 420 and 560 juveniles/m2 in 9-m2
cages. A partial harvest was made after 62 days when shrimp
weighed 8.9 to 9.5 g. A significantly higher biomass yield (1.5 kg/m2
) was obtained at the higher density
when compared to 1.2 g/m2 harvested from the lower density. After the final harvest, the weight of shrimp
differed significantly between the lower (14.4 g) and higher (13.2 g) densities, and the corresponding total
biomass yields were 4.4 and 5.0 kg/m2
. The values of the zootechnical variables were acceptable when
compared to those reported for shrimp cultivation in floating cages, intensive ponds, or raceways, thus
indicating the feasibility of further intensifying the cultivation of L. vannamei in cages.