Nitrite Toxicity in Shrimp Aquaculture: Mechanisms, Health Impacts, and Sustainable Mitigation Strategies

ABSTRACT The rapid expansion of intensive aquaculture systems has caused escalating environmental challenges due to excessive nitrogenous waste accumulation, which surpasses the metabolic capacity of aquatic microbiota and elevates nitrite concentrations. As a pervasive environmental toxin, nitrite induces oxidative stress, disrupts metabolic homeostasis, and compromises gut microbiota and immune function in shrimp, leading to mass mortality, economic losses, and ecological disruption. These impacts threaten both aquaculture productivity and ecological sustainability. This review synthesizes three decades of research to elucidate the multifactorial mechanisms of nitrite toxicity, including genotoxicity, apoptosis, growth impairment, and dysregulated cellular signaling pathways. Key findings highlight that nitrite overload impairs mitochondrial function, dysregulates apoptosis pathways, and interferes with growth and reproductive processes, thereby undermining shrimp development and reproduction. To address these challenges, the review evaluates emerging mitigation strategies such as antioxidant‐enriched feeds, probiotic modulation, and biofloc technology, which optimize nitrogen cycling, enhance detoxification capacity, restore microbial equilibrium, and improve survival rates in experimental trials. Unlike prior fragmented studies, this review integrates mechanistic insights into nitrite toxicity with scalable interventions, proposing a novel decision framework for system‐specific nitrite management. This framework offers actionable recommendations for policymakers and industry stakeholders to balance aquaculture productivity with ecological sustainability. By advancing the understanding of nitrite's ecotoxicological impacts, this review charts a path toward resilient and sustainable aquaculture systems, transforming mechanistic insights into preventive protocols and offering a holistic perspective on nitrite pollution control that reconciles economic objectives with ecological sustainability.