Preliminary study on the domestication of giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man, 1879) from North Kalimantan, Indonesia

The massive exploitation of giant freshwater prawn (GFP) (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) and the use of illegal catching methods have caused great threats to GFP populations, including in North Kalimantan. Therefore, domestication and farming of the origin prawn population is urgent. The purpose of this study was to analyze the domestication method of GFP in North Kalimantan waters. The research used a purposive sampling approach testing ecological parameters and the development of domestication, cultivation, and survival model methods as well as the level of osmotic work of the prawns. The prawns were collected from the estuarine area in the Bulungan (BL), Nunukan (NN), and Tana Tidung (TT) regencies. The success of domestication and cultivation of the prawns was highest in the NN district, while the highest mortality in domestication and cultivation was in BL District. The prawns survival rate during rearing in several salinities water (2±1 ppt, 5±1 ppt, 8±1 ppt, and 11±1 ppt) showed that the prawns from BL are weaker than the others. The successful domestication and cultivation data showed that the Nunukan giant freshwater prawn population has a higher level of adaptation to the culture environment than the Bulungan and Tana Tidung populations. Based on the survival rate and a number of moulting prawns we can state that the salinity of 8 ppt is more suitable to domesticate the local population of giant freshwater prawn of North Kalimantan.