Veramaris has released the latest Optimum Omega Nutritionâ„¢ white paper.
Authors, Dr Ester Santigosa, Ian Carr and Prof. Brett Glencross offer a guideline for meeting eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) & docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) omega-3 and arachidonic acid (ARA) omega-6 requirements, whilst maintaining the omega-3 to omega-6 ratio in shrimp diets. It also helps to improve shrimp health and welfare throughout the production cycle.
In the summary, they say that EPA and DHA are omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFA) vital for the survival, health, performance, and, eventually, product quality of farmed shrimp species. Traditionally, EFA dietary requirements have been met with fish oil and fish meal .
Yet, supply limitations and environmental considerations are driving the use of more sustainable ingredients such as vegetable or marine algal oils. The low in omega-3 fatty acids plant meals negatively affect shrimp welfare, growth performance, and fatty acid profile, and thus hinder product quality. In contrast, marine algal oil is high in EPA & DHA omega-3s, making it a consistent and favourable alternative to fishmeal and fish oil.
Veramaris® natural marine algal oil is a sustainable source of EPA and DHA that meets shrimp optimum dietary requirements which is at least 1% of EPA & DHA in the diet and improves its health, robustness, and growth performance throughout production in challenging farming conditions.
Nevertheless, EFA requirements throughout the life cycle of farmed shrimp remain still unresolved. In order to develop nutritionally complete diets and fully exploit shrimp production potential, a thorough understanding of the nutritional requirements at all development stages is necessary.
Parts of the white paper discuss the following:
• The essentiality of essential fatty acids
• The challenging road towards sustainability in aquafeeds
• Veramaris® algal oil: from the natural source to shrimp farms
• Unfinished business: defining efa requirements for farmed shrimp
In the last part, authors said that meeting dietary omega requirements, specifically EPA and DHA, is crucial in farming conditions that are constantly challenge shrimp with changes in salinity and temperature as well as with disease outbreaks. The expert review of latest available information and science suggests optimum EPA & DHA Omega-3 inclusion of not less than 1% of the diet. So far, the nutritional requirements of L. vannamei remain incomplete, and mostly focus on a single life stage. However, a precise definition of the requirements for larval, juvenile, and adult stages will aid to fully exploit the grow-out potential of shrimp.
A downward trend has been noted in the levels of EPA and DHA in commercial shrimp feeds, with a reduction of a 16% between 2014 and 2016. This is likely associated with the replacement of fishmeal and fish oil by plant meals and its compensation with phospholipids and protein.
The white paper is available for download here.
