Krill giant Aker Biomarine has flagged up a new study, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of the World Aquaculture Society, which declares krill meal the best marine chemoattractant for a species like vannamei shrimp.

The study, conducted by a team from the Instituto de Ciencias do Mar, Brazil (Labomar) in conjunction with Aker BioMarine, assessed the feed preference and the growth response of juvenile Litopenaeus vannamei to various different marine chemoattractants. A diet with 3% fishmeal was supplemented with either 3% krill meal, squid meal, shrimp head meal, shrimp meal, squid liver meal, salmon meal, soy protein concentrate or 5% liquid sardine hydrolysate. Find the detailed methodology here.

The results showed that krill meal is the most effective growth enhancer in fishmeal-challenged diets for vannamei shrimp. With the final body weight highest for shrimp fed with krill meal supplemented diet (11.97 grams ± 0.93g), followed by salmon meal (11.11g ± 0.77g), and squid meal (11.01g ± 1.17g).

“While we found that some of these other chemoattractants also had the ability to promote a stimulatory effect on shrimp feed intake and feed preference, this didn’t actually result in enhanced shrimp growth performance," said Alberto J.P. Nunes from Instituto de Ciencias do Mar. "Indeed, the very clear positive growth effects observed in the shrimp fed krill meal reflects the unique balance of higher feed attractiveness and stimulation, along with the steady supply of key dietary nutrients, delivered by krill, and krill alone."

Source : Undercurrent News