Vannamei (Pacific White Shrimp) Post-Larvae & Hatchery Sourcing
Litopenaeus vannamei
Short answer: to buy vannamei (Pacific white shrimp) post-larvae, fix the PL stage, quantity and stocking date, the SPF or SPR status and batch qPCR tests, and the packing, transit and import documents before asking for prices. Our team then requests comparable offers from hatcheries for commercial projects. FishMatch does not sell or ship post-larvae and does not hold stock.
- First reply within one business day
- Batch health documents requested
- Landed-cost comparison
Vannamei Shrimp (Whiteleg) stocking specifications
Stages to specify
Nauplii (N5–N6), PL5–PL8 for nursery stocking, PL10–PL15 for direct pond stocking, and SPF/SPR broodstock for hatchery operators. Confirm which stages each hatchery actually runs; availability is never assumed.
Reference stocking densities
FAO's species fact sheet describes semi-intensive ponds stocked at 10–30 PL/m², intensive ponds at 60–300 PL/m² and biofloc ponds at 80–160 PL/m². These are published reference ranges, not a recommendation for your farm: the right density follows from your aeration, water exchange, biosecurity and design calculation, never from the PL price.
Survival planning
We do not publish a survival rate as a buyer benchmark: it depends on PL quality, transport, acclimation, pond preparation and management. Use your own records or your technical adviser's assumption, test several values in the calculator, and remember that lower survival raises cost per kg. A nursery phase lets you grade animals before grow-out.
Quality checks on arrival
Uniform size distribution, active swimming against a gentle current, full guts, clean gills, and a stress test (salinity or formalin) before release.
Source: FAO Cultured Aquatic Species fact sheet: Penaeus vannamei (text by M. Briggs)
Stocking density calculatorWhat to put in a Vannamei Shrimp (Whiteleg) RFQ
- Stage at delivery (nauplii, PL5–PL8 for a nursery, or PL10–PL15 for direct pond stocking) and the count method and tolerance.
- Quantity per batch, number of batches and the stocking date each batch must meet.
- SPF or SPR status, breeding line and generation, with the broodstock origin declaration.
- Batch qPCR results you require (for example WSSV, IHHNV, EHP, TSV, IMNV and AHPND) and the laboratory that issues them.
- Hatchery salinity and temperature at packing versus your pond, so an acclimation protocol can be agreed.
- Packing: bag density, oxygen, insulated boxes and the maximum door-to-door transit time.
- Delivery airport or farm gate, Incoterm, and who bears losses on arrival.
- Import permit or written import conditions from your own authority and the health certificate wording they require.
- Total project or programme budget, so the team can check it against the commercial project minimum shown on the request form.
Vannamei Shrimp (Whiteleg) hatchery equipment — buyer criteria
If you are building or upgrading a hatchery rather than buying PL, these are the criteria that decide whether the system delivers — use them to frame your equipment RFQ.
Throughput first
Size the hatchery backwards from your stocking plan: annual PL requirement ÷ larval runs per month sets the larvae tank volume you actually need. A hatchery quoting 50 million PL/month of capacity that cannot show current run utilisation is quoting nameplate, not deliverable volume. Ask for the per-run survival curve from nauplii to PL — that number, not tank count, decides real throughput.
Species fit
Vannamei systems are not interchangeable with monodon or marine fish larvae. Vannamei needs fine-mesh filtration for small larvae, live-feed lines (artemia hatching, algae culture or quality substitutes), and tank geometries that keep weak swimmers suspended. Equipment quoted for 'any shrimp' without a vannamei-specific live-feed and filtration layout is a red flag at RFQ stage.
Automation level
Decide how much of the water-quality loop you automate: continuous probes for temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH with alarm thresholds are the baseline; automated water exchange, feeder timers and remote monitoring cut labour cost and human error but add CAPEX and maintenance contracts. Match the automation tier to the skills you can actually hire locally, not to the supplier's top catalogue line.
Yield protection
The equipment that protects yield is biosecurity hardware, not broodstock marketing: dedicated quarantine and maturation units, ozone or UV on intake water, separate air and water lines per larval section, and a qPCR-accessible sampling routine. A hatchery layout that shares water or air between quarantine and production sections puts the whole output at risk.
Cold-chain integration
PL quality is lost after the tank, not in it. Specify the packing and dispatch side at RFQ stage: counted volumetric packing stations, oxygen supply and regulators, insulated box stock, refrigerated holding for staged dispatch, and a documented chain to the airport or live-haul truck. Ask who owns the cold chain between hatchery door and arrival — gaps there turn good PL into dead stock.
Shipping, packing & lead times
Lead time
Ask each hatchery for its booking lead time in writing, so the larval run matches your pond or nursery preparation date. Nauplii are usually more flexible than late-stage PL. Treat any lead time as the supplier's statement until the run is actually scheduled.
Packing
Oxygenated double polyethylene bags in insulated boxes, counted by volumetric sampling, with a stated PL-per-bag density agreed before packing.
Transit window
Agree the maximum door-to-door transit time, holding temperature and bag density with the hatchery and the carrier before booking. Longer routes need lower bag density and a written acclimation protocol; plan what happens if a flight is delayed.
Minimum scale
Air-freighted cross-border shipments only make sense at volumes where freight and packing per 1,000 PL are acceptable. Compare the landed cost with regional hatcheries before committing to an import.
Health documentation to ask for
- qPCR screening reports for WSSV, IHHNV, EHP, TSV, IMNV and AHPND from the production batch, not a generic annual certificate
- Your import permit or written import conditions from your own country's competent authority, plus the official health certificate issued by the exporting country in the wording those conditions require
- Broodstock origin declaration with SPF/SPR status and generation
- Packing list stating PL stage, count method, bag density and packing time
- Acclimation and transport protocol supplied with the shipment
What drives the price
PL stage
Later stages cost more per animal because the hatchery carried them longer, but they usually survive transport and pond stocking better.
Genetics tier
High-growth or disease-tolerant lines carry a premium over standard commercial lines.
Order volume
Full-tank runs price better per PL than partial batches sharing a larval cycle.
Season
Regional stocking peaks tighten hatchery capacity and lift prices; off-peak windows are the cheapest time to book.
Freight
Air freight and oxygen packing are a real share of the landed cost on long routes and should be quoted separately from the PL price.
Indicative guidance only, not prices. Compare offers only once stage, count method, packing and freight terms match.
Vannamei Shrimp (Whiteleg) sourcing questions
Request Vannamei Shrimp (Whiteleg) hatchery quotes
Volume, stage, delivery window and health documents — a person reviews every request and replies within one business day. Hatchery quote timing is never promised.
Explore aquaculture and RAS suppliers here for research and market discovery, or start with your project requirements so FishMatch can help structure the RFQ and identify relevant system providers for that specific production plan.
Directory — research
Browse categories, countries and technology types to understand the market and which system types exist. Nothing is requested and no supplier is contacted.
Project sourcing — RFQ
Define species, system, production target and site conditions, size the requirement with the planning tools, and build one structured RFQ. Manufacturer research follows the requirement.
- FishMatch helps prepare aquaculture RFQs and source relevant suppliers.
- Supplier and manufacturer listings are provided for independent research, transparency and reference. Listing does not constitute certification, endorsement, qualification for a specific project or automatic introduction.
- Buyer follow-up and supplier selection are handled by FishMatch.
There is no instant or automated supplier match. Manufacturer research happens after the project requirement is clear and is reviewed by the FishMatch team before any supplier is approached.
Manufacturers can register in the free directory and keep their company details up to date. Being listed is a research and visibility surface — it does not create an automatic connection to buyers, and it does not replace the human sourcing process.
Supplier and manufacturer listings are provided for research, transparency and discovery only. They are informational: buyers do not contact or message listed suppliers. Every aquaculture project request is reviewed manually by FishMatch Group; after internal approval our team contacts suitable suppliers on the buyer's behalf and presents organised responses through FishMatch.
When is FishMatch a good fit for a buyer?
FishMatch can be a fit when a buyer needs structured RFQ intake, aquaculture-specific calculators, project-specific technical information and a clearer procurement path for hatchery, nursery and broodstock systems. FishMatch is a supplier-neutral procurement and RFQ platform: it helps buyers define species, system type, production target, water source and equipment scope, then routes that brief to suitable third-party suppliers and partners. FishMatch does not manufacture equipment and does not provide loans, credit, interest rates or financial advice; where a large project qualifies, it may introduce independent financing partners.
Best for
- ·Aquaculture investors and project developers
- ·Shrimp farm developers and fish farm owners
- ·Consultants preparing an RFQ on behalf of a client
- ·Governments, development programmes and EPC contractors
- ·Buyers who need help defining species, system type, production target, water source and equipment needs
- ·Buyers who need calculators and structured intake before requesting offers
Not ideal for
- ·Aquarium, hobby or ornamental fish equipment
- ·Small retail purchases and single spare parts
- ·Buyers who want instant fixed pricing without project details
- ·Requests outside aquaculture and related systems
- ·Buyers expecting guaranteed financing, credit approval or interest rates
- ·Buyers who cannot provide basic species, system, location or capacity details
Is your project a fit?
FishMatch Group handles commercial B2B projects with a total budget of USD 250,000 or more — new farms, hatcheries, RAS, cages, processing or expansions. The buyer sends one brief; our team reviews and structures the RFQ, then approaches suitable suppliers on the buyer's behalf. Buyers are not put in direct contact with manufacturers at this stage. Smaller or idea-stage projects can start with the calculators below and send the RFQ once scope and budget are clearer.
Which inputs change the estimate and the RFQ?
Calculator results and supplier quotes both depend on: species and life stage, production target (tonnes per year or PL per cycle), water source and quality (temperature, salinity, flow), system design (pond, cage, RAS, hatchery, processing), site and access, energy supply and price, permits, and timeline.
Calculator figures are planning estimates based on stated assumptions — not engineering designs or supplier quotes. Growth, survival and output depend on project-specific biology and operating conditions and are never guaranteed. Formulas, assumptions and sources: calculator methodology.
2. Equipment & project sourcing
Send a structured RFQ. A person checks scope and budget before any supplier is approached.
Start the project RFQ3. Financing (separate)
Financing is a separate track. FishMatch Group does not lend or guarantee financing.
Aquaculture financingBefore you request quotes
Equipment scope
What equipment does a commercial aquaculture project actually need?
A grow-out project typically needs holding infrastructure (tanks, ponds or cages), water movement (pumps, piping, valves), aeration or oxygenation, water treatment appropriate to the system, feeding equipment, grading and handling gear, monitoring and alarms, and backup power. RAS adds mechanical filtration, biofiltration, degassing, disinfection and tighter process control. Hatchery and processing scopes are specified separately.
Which equipment should be specified before requesting quotes?
Specify the items whose sizing changes everything downstream: design biomass and stocking density, water exchange or recirculation rate, oxygen demand at peak temperature, and installed pumping head. With those four fixed, suppliers can quote aeration, filtration, pumps and power on the same basis. FishMatch calculators produce these figures and attach them to the RFQ.
Can equipment be sourced in stages?
Yes, and phased procurement is common. The usual sequence is water supply and holding infrastructure, then aeration and treatment, then automation and monitoring, then processing and cold chain. Staging works when interfaces and capacity headroom are defined at the start; otherwise later phases force replacement rather than addition.