A deficiency of cholesterol in shrimp diets can result in slower growth and higher mortality rates. A study by the authors investigated krill meal as a partial replacement for a cholesterol supplement in diets for juvenile Litopenaeus vannamei shrimp.
Reduced performance in fish fed high-soy feeds has been blamed on antinutrients, low methionine content and palatability issues. Pretreatment to inactivate anti-nutritional compounds and supplementation with amino acids improves soy-based feed performance, but not to control levels.
Feed cost per unit gain (F.C./U.G.) is a metric frequently used in animal production systems to evaluate the effects of feed costs on production profitability. F.C./U.G. is calculated by multiplying the feed-conversion ratio by the unit cost of feed.
A study found that feed for salmon and trout had higher organic carbon concentrations than did catfish, shrimp and tilapia feeds. Nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations were similar among salmon, trout and shrimp feeds, and higher than those in catfish and tilapia feeds.
Liposomes, synthetic microparticles originally developed for the pharmaceutical industry, can be produced for ingestion by rotifers and artemia. A study found that yellowtail larvae fed rotifers enhanced with liposomes containing taurine had improved growth.
Although today’s soybeans offer many benefits, farmers can also plant alternatives, sometimes on the same farms that raise genetically modified beans. Organic beans meet specific market demands, and a conventionally bred non-GMO bean has been developed for use in aquafeeds for carbohydrate-intolerant marine fish.
Feed trays are typically used to avoid overfeeding in aquaculture production systems. They are sometimes used to deliver 100 percent of the feed that is fed, and other times a small number of trays are used as a guide to evaluate broadcast feeding techniques.
A study that used DDGS to partially replace soybean meal as the primary protein source in diets for juvenile white shrimp found the growth of shrimp significantly decreased when DDGS replaced soybean meal.
Soybeans are a popular alternative feed ingredient used to replace fishmeal and fish oil in aquafeeds. Most soybeans used in these feeds have been genetically modified to reduce pesticide use and increase yields.
Although groupers present desirable traits as an aquaculture species, the high cost of feed for the carnivorous fish limits expansion of grouper culture. The author performed two trials to evaluate the performance of tiger grouper juveniles fed soybean meal-based feeds.
Since camelina and flaxseed oils contain more omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) than most plant oils, the authors investigated them as replacements for fish oil in diets for cod, salmon and trout.
Can fresh U. lactuca harvested weekly from a land-based integrated multi-trophic aquaculture system be utilized as a nutritional supplement or partial replacement for pelleted feeds in the production of Litopenaeus vannamei?
Fish oil sparing has proven difficult for fish species, like sea bass, that require the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) abundant in fish oil but lacking in most alternative fats and oils used in aquafeeds.
Change the aquafeed paradigm by viewing feed as an investment, instead of simply as a cost. This can result in greater profitability.
Although its overall production is rising, aquaculture is using less fishmeal and fish oil in feed formulations, and increasing amounts of this fishmeal and oil come from byproducts of fish processing.
Gamma irradiation treatment presents a possible processing technique for reducing anti-nutrients and improving the nutritive quality of many feed ingredients.