Pacific white shrimp thrive with Antarctic krill in the diet
Achieving Economic Success in Shrimp Farming
To achieve economic success in shrimp farming, it is essential to ensure high growth rates, maintain a healthy (and disease-free) crop, and minimize feed waste. These are universal challenges faced by all shrimp farmers. In the search for raw materials that support a healthy, balanced, and sustainable shrimp feed, Antarctic krill flour stands out as a valuable option.
Krill's Attractiveness Activates Shrimp Sensory Cells
Low molecular weight, water-soluble compounds—such as free amino acids, nucleotides, nucleosides, quaternary ammonium compounds, phospholipids, biogenic amines, and monosaccharides—have been identified as dietary activators that enhance the attractiveness and palatability of shrimp diets.
Increasing diet attractiveness shortens feeding response time, reducing nutrient leaching and feed waste. This not only mitigates nutrient overload in ponds but also decreases the energy shrimp expend searching for food, ultimately lowering feed costs, which can account for up to 50% of total farming expenses. Therefore, a shrimp diet must be not only nutritionally adequate but also capable of stimulating the shrimp’s specialized sensory cells. Krill has proven to be a highly effective ingredient, offering essential nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, phospholipids, cholesterol, and astaxanthin. Moreover, it enhances feed palatability, ensuring consistent shrimp growth.
Enhancing Growth and Production Efficiency
Incorporating krill meal into shrimp diets accelerates growth rates, improving production efficiency by reducing farm operating costs and encouraging shrimp to consume otherwise less appealing feed. Faster growth enables earlier harvests and increased crop rotation, which boosts annual production and lowers the risk of disease outbreaks.
Watch the film below to learn more about krill and its role in reducing feed costs.
Reducing Shrimp Feed Costs
The price, quality, and availability of feed raw materials fluctuate, posing challenges for shrimp farmers. However, incorporating krill into shrimp diets allows for the reduction or even exclusion of certain costly ingredients. Fish meal can be significantly reduced, fish oil usage can be cut by at least half, and soybean lecithin and cholesterol can be entirely removed from feed formulations.
Krill also enhances feed intake in diets with reduced fish meal. When fish meal content is lowered, effective feeding stimulants—such as krill meal—are essential to maintain shrimp consumption rates. This leads to increased feed intake while minimizing the leaching of water-soluble nutrients, ultimately resulting in significant cost savings in shrimp feed formulations.
Cost-benefit in shrimp production
