Shrimp aquaculture has been developed as an industry to cater to the ever
increasing export market. Controlled production of the desired species of shrimp seed is vital
for the sustained development of shrimp aquaculture industry. The major technologies for
shrimp seed production are the Japanese system and the Galveston system. Over the years these
systems have undergone a series of modifications to suit the location, species and local
requirements. In Kerala two major systems for shrimp seed production are in vogue, one
developed by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute and the other by the Kerala Fisheries
Department. Semidosed hatchery technology is adopted mainly in these systems so as to take
advantage of the prevailing climatic conditions of this area, thereby reducing the production cost.
As this technology relies mainly on the prevailing climatic conditions, shrimp seed production
can be undertaken for a part of the year only. During monsoon months the hatchery ran
conveniently switch over to the production of 'Scampi' seed, which has great demand when the
production of shrimp seed is not profitable due to unfavorable climatic conditions such as low
salinity and temperature, thereby assuring year round operation of the hatchery and increasing
the profitability of the unit. The present paper also deals with working details and economics
of two types of hatcheries to cater to the needs of two levels of entrepreneurs. A backyard hatchery
with a production capacity of 3 million seeds (25 million shrimp seed and 0.5 million seed of
'scampi') established with an initial investment of Rs. 3.7 lakhs on infrastructure and an annual
operating cost of Rs.125 lakhs can yield a net profit of Rs. 0.83 lakhs per year at an average
production cost of Rs. 126/1000 seeds. A medium scale hatchery with a production capacity
of 15.8 million seeds (15.1 million shrimp seeds and 0.7 million 'scampi' seeds) established at
an initial investment of Rs. 4438 lakhs and operating cost of Rs. 4.81 lakhs can yield a net profit
of Rs. 6.08 lakhs per year at an average production cost of Rs. 113/lM)O seeds
