In recognition that recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) are becoming increasingly popular in Europe as they allow to shrimp producers produce high-quality, fresh products within close proximity of key markets, Danish aquaculture feed company Aller Aqua Group and premix specialist VDS have developed a range of feed products specifically designed for use by the emerging sector.
The new feed products, called “Shrimp Grower” and “Shrimp Finisher” have been designed to provide rapid feed availability and high performance, whilst also addressing the key concerns of shrimp producers. “Ex” versions have also been developed that don’t contain any land animal-based ingredients.
These current solutions cover the final grow-out stage of shrimp production, with the animals at a size of 1.5 to 2 grams.
In research and commercial trials, it was evidenced the new feed delivers faster growth and a more even size distribution of shrimp, which makes it capable of improving the efficiency and profitability of shrimp farming operations.
Aller Aqua and VDS are longstanding collaborators, and both identified the same shrimp producer demands about feed availability and performance as well as physical quality.
“With the growing demand, we found it was time to get together and develop an optimal feed for shrimp farmed in RAS,” Aller Aqua Group R&D Director Hanno Slawski said.
VDS CEO Koen Blanchaert explained that that the feeds have been tested in the company’s own RAS system, where it found faster growth and a very even size distribution of shrimp with the now market-ready products.
“Shrimp farmed in RAS is a growing market and our feed concentrate solution in combination with Aller Aqua’s experience in feed manufacturing, raw material selection, and high standard for physical pellet quality, have led to a range of products that have already gained customer attention,” Blanchaert said.
Meeting nutritional needs
The partners confirmed that the success of the on-farm trials conducted using the new feed products has generated significant interest among shrimp producers and the aquaculture industry.
Aller Aqua Product Manager Dr Robert Tiller told WF that the new feeds have been developed over recent years, and with the trials demonstrating how promising they were, it was felt that now was the right time to bring the product to the market.
“The feeds have been carefully formulated according to the [shrimps’] nutritional needs. Special emphasis has been given to levels of minerals, trace elements and vitamins to ensure optimal growth and health,” Tiller said.
“In our trials, we have seen superior growth compared to other commercial shrimp feeds. Also, the growth has been more uniform in the stock, reducing the risk of larger animals predating on smaller ones. A more uniform stock also reduces the risk of large animals dominating during the feeding process.”
He also explained that the extra nutrients will make the shrimp more resistant, for example, against handling stress.
With regards to markets, Tiller highlighted that RAS shrimp projects “are popping up everywhere”, with an increasing number of operations getting underway in Europe.
Other interesting markets include the Middle East, he said.
“Customers have been reporting apparent better and more uniform growth just by visual inspection. Later on, this has been confirmed by hard data.”
With regards to ways that RAS feeds need to differ from the diets used in traditional pond farming, for example, Tiller explained that special emphasis has been given to the stability of the feed pellet to reduce water pollution in RAS.
“At the same time the feed is very palatable and digestible to secure rapid feed uptake and growth of the shrimp,” he said.
Besides this new shrimp feed, Aller Aqua has been developing and commercialising RAS feeds for a variety of different species, including trout, salmon, pike perch, African catfish, sturgeon, barramundi and yellowtail kingfish.
