Aquaponics FL

Fish · Freshwater prawns

Freshwater prawn in Florida aquaponics

Macrobrachium rosenbergii

The Malaysian or giant freshwater prawn is a tropical, shrimp-like animal from southern Asia, farmed in summer ponds across the southern US and listed by FDACS among the animals common in commercial aquaponics. FWC says no permit is needed to keep it in a personal aquaponics system. Cold is the main limit, since it needs water above 65 F to grow, and breeding is hard at home because the larvae need brackish water, so most growers buy juveniles.1, 5, 6, 8, 10

Where in Florida it works8, 9, 10

RegionReading
North Floridapoorly suited
Central Floridasuited with care
South Floridasuited with care

Our reading, not a source statement, of SRAC 483, 484 and 4830 (growth needs water above 65 F; around 55 F is lethal): North Florida's winter freezes limit outdoor prawns to a summer crop, as in the temperate states SRAC describes; Central Florida allows a longer season but winter water will fall below 65 F; South Florida's tropical winters are closest to the 82 to 88 F optimum, but the margin between no growth (65 F) and death (around 55 F) is narrow, so cold fronts still need watching in outdoor tanks.

Our reading of the temperature facts below against UF/IFAS's three regions (North Florida north of State Road 40, Central between 40 and 70, South below 70). A tank with a heater, a greenhouse or a shaded sump changes the answer.

Temperature8, 9, 10

Optimal water temperature (°F)28 to 31 C (converted: 82 to 88 F)
Growth slows or stops below (°F)65
Lethal low (°F)55

SRAC 483 gives about 28 to 31 C as the best temperature for growth. SRAC 4830 says prawns are tropical and need water warmer than 65 F to grow. SRAC 484 says to stock ponds once early-morning water stays above 68 F, and to harvest when daily water temperatures sit at 62 to 68 F for 4 to 5 days, or before a cold front brings lethal water temperatures of 55 F (a symbol before the 55 was lost when the PDF was converted to text, so treat it as 'around 55 F'). Repeated spawning needs water above 70 F (SRAC 483). In temperate states the outdoor season gives one summer crop.

Florida rules1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

FWC statusFWC's "Aquaponics Licenses & Permits" page lists "Malaysian prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii)": "May be used in commercial or personal systems" and "No permit is required for personal systems" (page shows no revision date; read 2026-11-02). The species does not appear on FWC's "Conditional Nonnative Species List" or "Prohibited Nonnative Species List" (both show no revision date; read 2026-11-02), nor among the restricted or prohibited species in the FDACS BMP manual (FDACS-02034 Rev. 11/2023). FWC's nonnative regulations page also states the general rule (Rule 68-5.001, F.A.C.): "It is unlawful for any person to possess, transport or otherwise bring into the state or to release or introduce in the state any freshwater fish, aquatic invertebrate, marine plant, marine animal, or wild animal life that is not native to the state without a permit from the Commission, except fathead minnow, variable platy, coturnix quail, and ring-necked pheasant." The fetched pages do not explain how that general sentence fits with the aquaponics page's no-permit line for personal systems.
Permit or certificatePersonal system: none, per the FWC aquaponics page, which also says "No permit needed if aquatic species are produced for personal use only (not sold) and acquired in Florida" and lists a Resident Fish Dealer's license "if purchasing fish from sellers outside Florida" (the page does not say whether that line covers prawns). Commercial system: "An Aquaculture Certificate of Registration is required for use in commercial systems", issued by the FDACS Division of Aquaculture.
Selling fish or fingerlingsFWC's aquaponics page says the FDACS Aquaculture Certificate of Registration covers "production and sale of aquatic animals (fish, crayfish, prawns) by commercial businesses or private individuals", and that an FDACS food permit is needed if selling products for human consumption. FDACS-P-01770 Rev. 12/25 says anyone operating an aquaponic facility as a business "producing and selling aquatic animals must apply for an Aquaculture Certificate of Registration", and that those who process and sell products for human consumption need a Food Processing Permit from the Division of Food Safety.
AlsoFDACS-P-01770 Rev. 12/25 lists giant freshwater prawn among non-native animals in aquaponics and says "Rule 68-5, Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.) prohibits the release of any non-native species into Florida waters"; FWC adds that leftover aquaponics animals "may not be released into Florida waters." The FDACS Crustaceans page calls it "the most popular aquacultured freshwater prawn" and says it is native to southern Asia (page shows no revision date; read 2026-11-02).

Rules change and this is a summary; the agency page in the sources is the authority. Check it before you buy, breed or sell.

Growing8, 9, 10

Harvest size8 to 14 per pound in US ponds; commercial harvests about 12 per pound (SRAC 4830)
Months to harvest3.5 to 6 from nursed juvenile, or 110 to 170 days depending on latitude (SRAC 484); about 4 in temperate US ponds (SRAC 4830)
StockingPonds: 8,000 to 28,000 juveniles per acre for a 4- to 5-month season (SRAC 484); commercial ponds have ranged from 8,000 to 30,000 per acre (SRAC 4830). Stock juveniles averaging 0.25 to 0.40 g. Prawns are territorial and grow more slowly when crowded on the bottom; hanging mesh substrate equal to 25 percent of the bottom area raised yields by 15 to 20 percent. Do not stock with free-swimming fish, which eat small prawns and compete for feed; SRAC 484 describes keeping tilapia in cages inside prawn ponds instead. No aquaponics stocking figure was found.
FeedSRAC 4830: juveniles are usually fed a 32 percent crude protein sinking feed; low-density ponds use 1,000 to 1,500 lb of feed per acre a year and intensive ponds 5,000 to 6,000. SRAC 484 describes feeding mainly through organic fertilizer and sinking catfish feed or similar feedstuffs of 17 to 20 percent protein (as is), which grow natural food in the pond.
Water qualitySRAC 484: prawns grow best at pH 7 to 8.5 and survive 6.5 to 9.5, but pH above 9.0 is unsuitable for stocking and higher is usually lethal to juveniles; keep dissolved oxygen at 3 ppm or more (they survive below 2 ppm but are stressed); total hardness 50 to 200 mg/L; total alkalinity 50 to 150 mg/L. Well water is recommended.

At high densities or when food is short, prawns turn cannibalistic (SRAC 483). Florida was among the states that researched prawn culture in the 1970s and early 1980s (SRAC 483) and had some of the most prawn acreage in 1998 (SRAC 4830). US growers found it hard to match imported shrimp prices at wholesale and sold mostly at retail or direct, on freshness (SRAC 4830).

Breeding and stock8, 9

How it breedsFemales mature before 6 months of age. Mating happens only between a hard-shelled male and a female that has just molted; she lays within hours and carries the eggs under her tail, and as long as water is above 70 F she can spawn several times a year. Eggs hatch in about 20 to 21 days at 82 F. The larvae swim upside down, cannot live in fresh water beyond about 48 hours, and do best in brackish water of 9 to 19 ppt; they pass through 11 molts over 15 to 40 days before becoming postlarvae of 7 to 10 mm that move back to fresh water and live on the bottom. Males come in three types (orange claw, strong orange claw and blue claw); blue-claw males are the most successful at mating and guard a group of females around molting time (SRAC 483).
Getting fingerlings or stockSRAC 483 advises new growers to skip the hatchery, and at first the nursery too, and buy juveniles; suppliers are few. Juveniles usually come from a nursery phase of 40 to 60 days; slightly larger juveniles cost more, but raising the stocking weight from 0.14 g to 0.25 g gave about 40 percent more production over a 120- to 130-day growout (SRAC 484).

Florida sellers of fingerlings, breeders and stock

In an aquaponics system1, 5, 9, 11, 12

suited with care

FDACS-P-01770 Rev. 12/25 lists giant freshwater prawn among the animals commercial aquaponic systems commonly include, and FWC allows it in personal systems. SRAC 454 and SRAC 5007 do not mention prawns, so no aquaponics stocking or feeding figures were found; the care points here come from pond sheets: warm water, bottom space or substrate for a territorial animal, and keeping it away from loose fish that would eat small prawns.

What this page doesn't cover yet

  • No UF/IFAS EDIS fact sheet on freshwater prawns could be found; all biology and culture figures are from SRAC pond sheets written for temperate US states.
  • FWC's general Rule 68-5.001 sentence (permit needed to possess any nonnative aquatic invertebrate) and FWC's aquaponics page ('No permit is required for personal systems') are not reconciled on any fetched page. Not resolved here; ask FWC if in doubt.
  • SRAC 484's lethal-temperature figure lost a symbol in text extraction ('( 55 degrees F)'), most likely a less-than sign; the record treats it as 'around 55 F'.
  • No source gives a lethal high temperature.
  • Eating is null: SRAC 4831 'Post-Harvest Handling of Freshwater Prawns' was found by search but not fetched, and no other fetched source describes the prawn as food beyond market prices.
  • SRAC 484 and SRAC 4830 give slightly different pond stocking ranges (8,000 to 28,000 versus 8,000 to 30,000 per acre) and growout lengths (3.5 to 6 months or 110 to 170 days versus about 4 months).
  • FDACS-P-01770 spells the genus 'Marcobrachium'; the FDACS Crustaceans page and SRAC spell it Macrobrachium.
  • FAO 'Small-scale aquaponic food production' could not be fetched (HTTP 403 on every FAO URL tried).

Sources

  1. Aquaponics Licenses & Permits. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Read 2026-11-02.
  2. Regulations for Nonnative Fish and Wildlife: Conditional and Prohibited Species. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Read 2026-11-02.
  3. Conditional Nonnative Species List. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Read 2026-11-02.
  4. Prohibited Nonnative Species List. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Read 2026-11-02.
  5. Commercial Aquaponics: Rules and Regulations. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Aquaculture, FDACS-P-01770 Rev. 12/25. Read 2026-11-02.
  6. Crustaceans. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Aquaculture. Read 2026-11-02.
  7. Aquaculture Best Management Practices Manual (incorporated into Rule 5L-3.004, F.A.C.). Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Aquaculture, FDACS-02034 Rev. 11/2023. Read 2026-11-02.
  8. Biology and Life History of Freshwater Prawns. Southern Regional Aquaculture Center (SRAC), SRAC 483. Read 2026-11-02.
  9. Pond Production of the Freshwater Prawn in Temperate Climates. Southern Regional Aquaculture Center (SRAC), SRAC 484. Read 2026-11-02.
  10. Economics of Freshwater Prawn Farming in the United States. Southern Regional Aquaculture Center (SRAC), SRAC 4830. Read 2026-11-02.
  11. Recirculating Aquaculture Tank Production Systems: Aquaponics—Integrating Fish and Plant Culture. Southern Regional Aquaculture Center (SRAC), SRAC 454. Read 2026-11-02.
  12. Principles of Small-Scale Aquaponics. Southern Regional Aquaculture Center (SRAC), SRAC 5007. Read 2026-11-02.

Every fact above is restated in our own words from these documents, written 2026-11-02. Independent of the University of Florida and of every agency named.

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