An expert panel convened by Weifang City Fisheries Technology Extension Station made an on-site inspection on the project “Bio-floc high-density industrial over-winter shrimp farming mode”, which was completed jointly by YSFRI and Longwei Industrial co. ltd. According to the inspection result, the shrimpPenaeus Vanmameiwas cultured using this biofloc technique for 104 days. The shrimp reached an average body length of 9.6±0.4 cm, and an average body weight of 11.3g. It was estimated that, the total survival of the shrimp during this culture experiment was about 68.7%, so that the unit production was 3100kg/mu (or 4.65kg/m²). On harvest, the actual productivity reached 3515kg/mu (or 5.30kg/m²), at a value of 267,000 yuan RMB/mu (or 400 yuan RMB/m²).

Biofloc shrimp culture technique is a new mode of shrimp culture promoted by YSFRI to the Chinese shrimp culture industry. Following many years’ research and development, YSFRI has set up a systematic technology on shrimp farming using biofloc. This winter low-temperature culture experiment was carried out after the success of a 2013 summer high-temperature industrialized culture mode experiment. Researchers has tested and monitored shrimp health and water quality throughout the experiment. It was found that, using biofloc may help control the pathogens in the water and in cultured shrimps, and may reduce ammonia and nitrite concentrations in the water.

Shrimp culture in northern China requires heating of the tank water in winter. Following traditional culture procedures, water exchange rate is usually high, and heat loss is significant. Using biofloc technique may significantly reduce water exchange, which both helps temperature control in the culture tanks and saves energy. Currently, the advantage of biofloc high-density industrial shrimp farming has been proved during both summer high-temperature and winter low-temperature seasons. The culture technology is fairly developed and is ready for extension at large scales.