EXPERT T●PIC
3 Antarctic Krill and accelerated growth rates Aquaculture feeds frequently have several different ingredients with independent and combined benefits. “Feed for farmed shrimp, salmon and marine fish share one aim – to improve the feeding response,” says Nils Einar Aas, Sales Director, Aker BioMarine Antarctic. “Antarctic krill meal from (Euphausia superba) is a feed ingredient that does exactly this. It accelerates growth.” And accelerating growth at the right time promotes filet quality and in addition quantity in terms of fat content, pH, colour, firmness and gaping. by Olivia Holden, International Aquafeed Magazine
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hat is good for the consumer can be good for the producer. Accelerated growth is profitable because greater weight leads to higher value. Accelerated growth reduces production time, which reduces working capital in production and increases profitability. Feeds are composed differently and each ingredient has attributes that are carefully considered in amounts and quality. Fish feed is often made from a mix of maize, soya and other commodities, various ingredients and micronutrients. Certain ingredients acceler-
ate growth and improve performance; still others replace more costly fishmeal, fish oil, soy lecithin and cholesterol. Many feeds try to speed up growth, increase yield and improve the quality. Aquaculture feeds’ raw materials and ingredients’ prices vary widely. Prices usually reflect the value given to the feed and the actual supply and demand situation. Raw materials with higher value are often nutrient dense, contain high quality nutrients, have one or more essential nutrients and they can bring additional value to a product like taste or colour.
A powerful and pure ingredient from pristine waters
Studies document performance
Studies and controlled trials for a range of species confirm that shrimp, salmonids and marine fish fed with krill grow faster than the control groups that are fed with feed excluding krill. Increased growth during the smolt phase has implications for entire growth until harvest. From May to August 2007, a smolt experiment with QrillTM was conducted at Norway’s Averøy research station. Nofima Marine’s research centre conducted the study on juvenile salmon following their transfer out to sea pens. Salmon were fed feed containing 15 percent and seven percent QrillTM Aqua against a control group. Qrill contain a range of functional and essential marine nutrients for aquaculture species, including 40 percent of
Generally speaking, krill is a minor percentage of the feed but it demonstrates major effects: improved health and rapid growth. Harvested from the Antarctic’s pristine waters (around Area 48), krill provides essentials for health: highly bioavailable phospholipid Omega 3 fatty acids, the powerful antioxidant Astaxanthin, and high quality proteins. “Krill solves an important problem: how to accelFigure 2: Influence of Qrill as a finisher diet on salmon thermal growth erate growth,” says Aas.
42 | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | September-October 2015