In order to use the shrimp
Macrobrachium jelskii
as a protein source in food processing for fish, it was evaluated
the appropriate period of crop and the growth of the shrimp in earthen ponds, using two diets and two stocking
densities. The shrimps were collected in the Caño Manamo, Tucupita, Amacuro Delta State, and after identification
and selection to a weight of 0,34 ± 0,087 g, they were stocked in cages of 3 m
2 within ponds. Four treatments
were tested: T
1: food with 20% protein and density of 40 shrimp/m
2; T
2: food with 20% protein and density of 80
ind/m
2; T
3: food with 28% protein and density of 40 ind/m
2 and T
4: food with 28% protein and density of 80 ind/
m
2, with three replicates per treatment. The shrimp were fed with a daily ration calculated between 20 and 10%
of the existing biomass. The samples for observation of average weight and length were made monthly. Daily
measurements of temperature, oxygen and pH of the water of the ponds, were performed. The total crop was
conducted at 140 days of cultivation; however, the analysis of the results showed that higher weights and lengths
were reached at 100 days, when differences were observed in both variables due to the factor diet, indicating that the food with a lower percentage of protein was used equally in both levels of density. Due to the reproduction of
the species within the corrals, some values of survival were greater than 100%.