"We do harvest the shrimp every month"

By Rini Kusumawati

I am just looking back all the interviews that we (one colleague from Vietnam, my supervisor, and Me) did in Tarakan. On one of the questions that we asked was about the management of Tambak.  There was 3 ponds in one small island that we visited. The manager of this island told us that with those three ponds they will harvest the shrimp every month. Here is the system that they use:

1. First month-first pond: stocking 1-1.5 month old shrimp
2. Second month- second pond: stocking 1-1.5 month old shrimp
3. Third month-third pond: stocking 1-1.5 month old shrimp---first pond: harvesting and stocking
4. Fourth mont-second pond: harvesting and stocking
5. Fifth month-third pond: harvesting and stocking
6. Sixth month-first pond: harvesting and stocking

So, they do this system over and over for years. No other pond management or pond treatment after each harvesting. No wonder that after 4 to 5 years, the ponds will experience low productivity.