Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation

The biological feasibility of integrating Mercenaria mercenaria clams onto an existing shrimp farm was investigated. Effects on water were measured through a tank trial involving 2 treatments of shrimp stocked with different densities of clams (50/m2; 100/m2), and a shrimp-only control treatment. Significantly lower (p < 0.05) levels of total suspended solids (TSS) and organic suspended solids (OSS) were found in both clam treatments compared to the control treatment. Total ammonium nitrogen (TAN) was found to be significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the 50 clams/m2 treatment than the 100 clams/m2 and control treatments. Shrimp growth was not significantly different among treatments (p > 0.5). 60,400 M. mercenaria clams were stocked in a semi-intensive (50 shrimp/m2) P. vannamei shrimp pond in Hawaii, USA for 104 days to measure clam growth and survival. Average clam growth was 10.3±3.1 x 8.3±2.8, and total weight increased from 405.85lbs to 974.05lbs over 104 days of integrated pond production. Estimated clam survival averaged 86% from stocking to harvest. The findings of this study suggest high potential for M. mercenaria clams as a candidate for integrated pond production with P. vannamei shrimp