Key nutrients in Antarctic krill lower cost in shrimp production.

摘要

This article discusses the growth and the economical performance of juveniles of Litopenaeus vannamei when fishmeal, fish oil, soy lecithin and cholesterol were partially or fully replaced by Antartic krill or QRILL meal. Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are small, shrimp-like crustaceans that constitute one of the world's most abundant sources of marine nutrients. A study was conducted in 25 indoor and 25 outdoor tanks of LABOMAR, a research centre in Brazil, to determine the potential of QRILL meal in replacing key protein and lipid sources in shrimp diets. Five replicates were designated for each control and treatment feed. Feeds consisted of a basal diet designed to fully meet L vannamei nutritional requirements. From the basal diet, three other formulas were designed to progressively replace fishmeal, fish oil, soy lecithin and cholesterol by QRILL meals. After 72 days of rearing, shrimp reared under both systems showed no differences in performance among treatment feeds (P>0.05). Economic analysis indicated that gross profit margin was mainly driven by formula costs. Increased gross profits were obtained with greater savings in formula costs. Thus, all formulas containing QRILL were more cost competitive and advantageous than the basal diet. In conclusion, QRILL meal was able to fully replace fishmeal and soy lecithin at no significant cost to shrimp performance. The use of QRILL meal at all inclusion levels adopted, led to a higher economic return when compared to a diet containing 18.5% fishmeal, 2.0% fish oil, 1.5% soy lecithin and 0.15% cholesterol.