November | December 2010

Feature title: Critical ingredients to the Shrimp farming industry

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The International magazine for the aquaculture feed industry

 F: Shrimp farming F: Shrimp farming

Rising feed
cost

Figure 1: Effect of 3 cholesterol levels on the Escalating Tired of hearing

fish meal price
growth and survival of Litopenaeus vannamei
bred in ponds ( Ir A.H.Mogollon and Ir. V.V. Rubin, only bad news?
University of Tumbes, Peru)

larval and juvenile post -larval stages before morphosis and the
Opportunistic Feed is the main cost
diseases
reaching the mature or adult phase. The moulting process in most aquaculture
length of the culture period varies but (Teshima, 1997).
operations …
for Pacific white shrimp it can take about
20 days for the larvae to metamorphose Cholesterol Environmental
Dishman Netherlands expands its sphere of influence by to post larvae and approximately another
three to four months to reach market size
availability
In their natural
impact
and the most difficult one
providing critical ingredients to the in tropical waters at 25-27°C. habitat shrimps will
to reduce when ingredient

shrimp farming industry

The rate of growth of the shrimp is a obtain naturally
function of the frequency of molting and the occurring sterols Low Shrimp prices are rising …
increase in size at each molt. from algae and & fish prices
However, the frequency of molting zooplankton, how-
decreases as the shrimp increases in weight ever these sources
with the intermolt period increasing in will not be avail-
length. In the 20 day larval period, from egg able to shrimp in

T
he incorporation of
vitamins and chemi-
cals’ expertise into the
Dishman Group in 2007,
means that Dishman Netherlands
now provides new market growth
opportunities and important cho-
lesterol technology to the shrimp
farming industry.
International sales director, Evert
Drewes, feels that “The aquaculture
industry, and in particular shrimp produc-
tion, is an expanding activity with a strong
future.”
He sees that technological advances in
nutrition, in particular, will play an important
role in the development of sustainable
ingredients for the shrimp feed industry.
Currently, Dishman Netherlands has
a dedicated production facility producing
cholesterol, a vital component and essential
requirement for shrimp diets.
“A strong commitment to research and
development and a focussed approach to its
practical application is the key to success,”
he says.
An important shrimp species
One of the most important shrimp
species cultivated today is the Whiteleg or
Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei
(Boone).
This native Latin American species was
introduced to Asia, via the Philippines,
around 1978, and China in 1998 (Briggs et
al, 2005). FAO statistics showed that farmed
production of L. vannamei increased from
8000 tonnes in 1980 to 194,000 tonnes
in 1998 and reached 1,386,000 tonnes in
2004 following the spread of this species
throughout Asia.
This further increased and in 2008 the
total world aquaculture production was
2.26 million tonnes with a value of approxi-
mately US$9 billion.
The main producer countries are China,
Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.
The average annual growth in world-
wide crustacean aquaculture production
during the period 1995 to 2005 was 13.8
percent (FAO, 2009). It is expected that
the shrimp market will grow between 4
and 5% worldwide per annum during the
coming years.
to post-larvae, there can be 16-20 molts, semi-intensive or
Excellent growth potential a further 20 molts in the 40 day nursery intensive cultiva- AQUAGEST® maximizes digestibility
The growth potential of the Pacific phase to approximately 2g and an additional tion in the required and feed utilization
white shrimp is excellent; it is considered eight molts in the final 80 day grow out amount.
efficiency
a hardy species and has stepped in to phase to 20g. In commercial
replace the production of other species, The diet quality during the exponential diets cholesterol
AQUABITE® enhances palatability
more significantly affected by viral disease, nursery growth period, from approxi- is a natural com-
in many areas in Asia. It is also considered mately 0.5mg to 2.0g, with high molting ponent of marine and appetite
to be the species with the best oppor- frequency, is especially critical as it is dur- invertebrate meals
tunity to reduce dietary protein levels ing this period that the final yield potential and oils, for exam- SANACORE® GM
(Cuzon, 2004). is laid down. ple from squid, improves growth and
Depending on the intensity of the pro- Lipids, such as phospholipids, triglycer- shrimp, clams and
duction culture systems, feed costs can ides and cholesterol, are a major source crab. However the productivity by promoting
account for 60-80 percent of shrimp produc- of energy in shrimp diets as well as being cholesterol content a healthy gut microflora
tion costs, proteins accounting for at least a involved in several essential processes for of these ingredients
third of the diet composition (FAO, 2006). their growth, molting and reproduction. varies considerably
Current feeding methods take advantage Cholesterol is an essential dietary nutri- and is present in
of the omnivorous habits of the shrimp ent, for members of the crustacean family, a less esterified
and many of the commercial diets incorpo- as they are incapable of synthesising their form requiring
rate plant-based ingredients as alternative own cholesterol from fatty acids unlike more energy for applying nature for a healthy and sustainable future
protein sources in order to improve the other animals. its utilisation than
sustainability of the industry and reduce Cholesterol is an essential component of it manufactured
environmental impact. all animal tissues, it plays a major role in cell alternative.
membrane structure, is a precursor for sex The industry
The role and importance hormones, for bile acids and for vitamin D. requirement for
of cholesterol In crustaceans cholesterol is a precursor guaranteed quality
info.aqua@nutriad.net
The penaeid shrimp passes through a for many hormones, including ecdysteroids, characteristics with
www.nutriad.net
number of stages: nauplius, zoea and mysis which are critical for the initiation of meta- higher bioavail-

30 InternatIonal AquAFeed
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2010 november-December
november-December 2010 InternatIonal AquAFeed
2010 || InternatIonal AquAFeed || 31
31
 F: Shrimp farming
ability therefore makes the addition of an
alternative direct source of cholesterol an
attractive proposition.
Cholesterol produced by Dishman
Netherlands is a natural product extracted
from wool grease. A range of cholesterol
products are available with differing particle
size distributions and levels of cholesterol
up to 91 percent. These products are crys-
talline free flowing dry powders which have
excellent storage stability, are free from the
risk of bacterial or viral contamination and
easily added to commercial diets.
Trial and field results
Previous research by Dishman has
resulted in the development of two spe-
cific cholesterol products, SF and FG (now
known as XG). This product combina-
tion was supplemented in Pacific white
shrimp diet trials at the Faculty of Fisheries
Engineering at Tumbes National University
in Peru.
32 | InternatIonal AquAFeed | november-December 2010
Laboratory post-larval shrimp were
used in this study and reared to adult sizes
under commercial nursery and on growing
conditions in earth ponds, for an effective
feeding period of 93 days.
The results shown in Figure 1 show
clearly that growth, survival and food con-
versions ratios (FCR) were improved by
cholesterol supplementation of the diet.
The growth rates of the shrimp fed the
diets supplemented with cholesterol doses
of SF 0.5 percent and FG 0.3 percent were
significantly higher than those fed SF 0.2
percent and FG 0.1 percent and these were
both significantly higher (P<0.05) than the
control groups of shrimp with no choles-
terol supplement. The group with higher
cholesterol levels of SF 0.5 percent and FG
0.3 percent also showed statistically sig-
nificantly higher survivals than the controls.
Food conversion rates showed that the
best FCR’s were recorded for the diets
with added cholesterol in comparison to
the control diets but were not statistically
significant.
During this trial the shrimp did not
appear to be stressed and the groups fed
the cholesterol supplemented diets did not
exhibit any disease symptoms. The control
group was affected by Vibriosis that had to
be treated.
Conclusion
Cholesterol is an essential component
of artificial shrimp feed with the optimum
level of cholesterol varying depending on
the shrimp developmental stage and the
overall feed quality.
The addition of natural extracted cho-
lesterol products, Cholesterol SF and XG,
to commercial shrimp diets can augment
the natural cholesterol levels of the diet to
optimise growth, performance and survival
characteristics. In field trials the biomass
obtained improved by 41 percent, feed
intake increased by eight percent and FCR
dropped by 23 percent.
In the current economic climate con-
siderable pressures are faced by farmers
to remain competitive and the strategy
of cholesterol supplementation offers the
opportunity to improve yields and ulti-
mately profit therefore providing advantage.
References
Briggs M, Funge-Smith S, Subasinghe RP and
M Phillips (2005). Introductions and movement
of two penaeid shrimp species in Asia and the
Pacific. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper No. 476,
Food and Agricultural Organization of the United
Nations, Rome.
Cuzon G, Lawrence A, Gaxiola G, Rosas C and
J Guillaume (2004). Nutrition of Litopenaeus
vannamei reared in tanks or in ponds. Aquaculture
235, 513-551.
FAO (2006). State of World Aquaculture: 2006.
FAO Fisheries technical paper No 500. Rome,
FAO. 134p.
Dry with 20-50% less energy
FAO (2009). The state of world fisheries and
aquaculture 2008. Rome, FAO. 196p.
Teshima S I (1997). Phospholipids and sterols.
In D’Abramo LR, Conklin DE and Akiyama DM
(Eds) Crustacean nutrition, advances in world
aquaculture. World Aquaculture Society, pp
85-107.
More inforMation:
Mr Evert Drewes
Dishman Netherlands Geelen Counterflow / T +31-475-592315
Email: Evert.Drewes@dishman-netherlands.com
Geelen Counterflow USA Inc. / T +1-772-559-4338
Geelen Counterflow América Latina / T +54-9-2362-418899
E info@geelencounterflow.com / I www.geelencounterflow.com
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