Observation on some of the environmental parameters of selected shrimp farms in Khulna, Bangladesh

In recent years, the ecological degradation, loss of technological sustenance and othermultidimensional consequences caused by shrimp farming have made the experts andauthorities bound to rethink about the development of the industry. The present studydescribes the water and sediment quality, and culture and management techniques infive selected shrimp farms at Paikgacha, Khulna throughout a production cycle fromMarch to September 1997. The water quality parameters were found to be more or lesssuitable throughout the cycle. The concentration of the limiting major nutrients such asnitrogen and phosphorus and minor nutrients such as calcium and magnesium weresatisfactorily high, concentrations of the organic matter content were also high.Remarkable negative correlation of shrimp production with secchi depth was observedamong the farms. Production per cycle ranged between 273 kg/ha and as low as 63 kg/ha.