T. De Wolf, M. Dehasque and P. Coutteau
Abstract:
The aquaculture industry is still one of the fastest growing food producing sectors. Hatcheries are obliged to intensify their production techniques, involving the creation of stress situations. These conditions make animals more susceptible to infection by opportunistic bacteria. Especially in larval rearing, the live food is suspected to be a major source of contamination. The culture of the brine shrimp Artemia, which is the prevailing live food used for the early stages of shrimp and fish, is indeed highly contaminated with bacteria. A major part of this flora is consisting of Vibrio spp. which are potential fish pathogens. Therefore it is of vital importance to culture live food in the most hygienic circumstances. Besides the hygienic aspect, due to the growing demand, intensification becomes a must. Therefore it is important to be able to produce more live food within the same facilities without endangering nutritional and zootechnical aspects. In this presentation, specific procedures to produce highly enriched and hygienically clean Artemia nauplii are discussed, as well as a new, intensified enrichment strategy.
(Inve Technologies NV, Oeverstraat 7, 9200 Baasrode, Belgium)