soybean meal in combination with either poultry by-product, fish meal, distiller's dried grains with solubles,
or pea meal in production diets for L. vannamei. Outdoor ponds and tanks were utilized to evaluate the
response of the shrimp over the culture period. The pond production trial was conducted in 0.1-ha ponds
stocked with juvenile shrimps (mean weight±S.D., 0.038±0.004 g) at 35 shrimp m−2 and cultured under
standardized pond production conditions for 18 weeks. The same dietary treatments plus a commercial
reference diet were offered to shrimp (initial weight of 2.1 g) maintained in outdoor tanks (800 L) over a
12-week period. The results for the pond study demonstrated that final production ranged between 5054 and
5265 kg ha−1, mean final weight varied from 15.98 to 16.28 g, survival ranging from 86.6 to 93.7%, and FCR
was between 1.32 and 1.37. There were no differences (P≥0.05) or notable trends in shrimp production
variables among different test diets. Shrimp reared in the outdoor tanks confirmed these findings. Average
final weights ranged between 18.53 and 19.00 g, survival varied from 97.3 to 98.7%, and FCR was between 1.30
and 1.33. The results from the outdoor tank study also showed no differences (P≥0.05) in final weight,
survival, or FCR among test diets. Diet containing partial fishmeal showed no benefit on growth performance
of L. vannamei comparing with diets containing high levels of soybean meal in combinations with poultry byproduct,
distiller's dried grains with solubles or pea meal. Therefore, these studies demonstrated that practical
shrimp feeds containing no fish meal had no negative impact on growth performances of L. vannamei.