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This study aimed to evaluate the influence of stocking density on growth performance, nutritional quality, and immune-related gene expression of <i>Eriocheir sinensis</i> and water quality in pond ecosystems. <i>E. sinensis</i> were randomly divided into five density groups (G1: 1.2 inds/m²; G2: 1.5 inds/m²; G3: 1.8 inds/m²; G4: 2.1 inds/m²; G5: 2.4 inds/m²) based on their breeding densities, and three replicates were set up for each density group, for a total of fifteen ponds. After 169 days of breeding, the muscle, hepatopancreatic tissue, and hemolymph of <i>E. sinensis</i>, randomly selected from each group, were collected for analysis. Body weight (BW), carapace length, and carapace width increased with breeding time, and the BW of <i>E. sinensis</i> in G3 was higher than that in the other groups. In the muscle and hepatopancreas, the crude lipid content in the G3 group was higher than that in the other groups (<i>p</i> > 0.05). In the muscle tissue, the contents of total, essential, and delicious amino acids in the G3 group were higher than those in the other groups. The expression levels of immune-related genes in G5 were higher than those in the other groups. The value of pH decreased and NO₂-N increased significantly in the G5 group and pH, as a synergetic factor of culture density, affected the growth performance of <i>E. sinensis</i>. In conclusion, stocking density has a certain impact on the growth performance, nutrition quality, and immunity of <i>E. sinensis</i> and water quality in pond ecosystems, and a stocking density of 1.8 inds/m² can be considered optimal for rearing in pond ecosystems of the Poyang Lake region.