What started out as a simple yet ambitious contest to drive innovation in the aquafeed sector has evolved into a fully global competition – and collaboration – amongst ingredient suppliers and feed manufacturers.
The diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii is important in the aquaculture industry to feed shrimp and shellfish larval stages in hatcheries. This study examined culture conditions for this diatom and determined that it can be successfully cultured semi-continuously and without population crashes.
Effective aquafeed management methods are critical for efficient production of farmed shrimp, and to minimize environmental impact. In the second part of his series, Editor Emeritus Darryl Jory looks at shrimp feed management in terms of application, distribution, frequency, calculations and adjustment practices.
The availability of a cost-effective grow-out feed formulation is an ongoing bottleneck for the expansion of cobia production. Studies by the authors show that the development of an aquafeed with limited or no fish oil content is possible.
Shrimp production systems and their feed management must be considered together. It requires an understanding of biological aspects of the targeted species and age, of production system used, of chemical and biological processes that control water and bottom quality and continuous system monitoring and feedback to provide appropriate and timely inputs and adjustments.
After 14 years with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, Rick Barrows talks about the importance of finding ‘complete’ and commercially viable alternative sources of omega-3 fatty acids and continuing innovation in the aquafeed sector.
Studies demonstrate that hydrolyzed soy protein can be well digested and utilized by Pacific white shrimp, and that digestibility is improved through a bioprocess with the bacterium Lactobacillus spp.
A study assessed the growth performance and fillet fatty acid composition of juvenile hybrid striped bass that were fed various diets containing different levels of fish oil, soybean oil, and blends of both. Results suggest that alternative lipid composition influences the degree of tissue fatty acid profile distortion.
In the second part of our interview with the associate head of research at the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at Deakin University (Australia) he discusses the various alternative sources of omega-3 fatty acids coming on to the market and why research is crucial to advancing aquaculture.
Assuring that aquafeed ingredients are processed properly into a high-quality product requires monitoring each manufacturing process through the proper in-line quality assurance, to produce a consistent quality continuously.
One of the world’s leading fish nutrition experts talks about how aquaculture can learn to survive, and even thrive without depending on fishmeal and fish oil. It’ll take a lot of innovation, but Giovanni Turchini is confident that the industry is on the right path.
Reformulating aquaculture feeds, an industrywide initiative to reduce dependence on wild fish, has changed farmed salmon’s nutritional profile, as BBC News reported recently. The researchers on whose work the report was based say of course it has, yet it remains one of the best sources for these crucial fatty acids.
During an informative pre-GOAL special session, several marine ingredient and aquaculture experts discussed the challenges of responsible sourcing of fishmeal and fish oil supplies – essential ingredients in the aquaculture industry’s explosive growth over the past three decades and its future prospects.
Phospholipids are the major constituents of cell membranes and are vital to the normal function of every cell and organ. The inclusion of phospholipids in aquafeeds ensures increased growth, better survival and stress resistance, and prevention of skeletal deformities of larval and juvenile stages of fish and shellfish species.
The proper feed particle sizes of aquafeed ingredients are established by the nutritional requirements of the species targeted and by the feed manufacturing process used. For proper ingredient particle sizes, various characteristics are very important, including particle size distribution and pellet density.
A study conducted with juvenile shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) reared in experimental biofloc systems used four treatments. Results indicate that differences in management and carbohydrate source can lead to substantial disparity in system function and production.